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In this episode, Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Development at MRA, sits down with Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research and Advisory. They discuss shifting HR practices from reactive to proactive, drawing insights from Ben's recent global research on workforce development.
Episode Highlights:
Key findings from global research on workforce trends.
How to anticipate and address future HR challenges.
Steps to create meaningful growth opportunities for employees.
Insights from Ben’s upcoming book on payroll and HR skill-building.
Practical tips for small HR teams to implement proactive strategies.
Whether you're part of a small HR team or a larger organization, this conversation offers actionable advice to stay ahead in 2025.
In this episode, we're excited to welcome Tricia Shields, Chief Human Resource Officer at Navient, as our guest. Tricia shares her extensive experience in HR technology transformation, walking us through Navient's journey from paper-based processes to automation and digitization. This episode provides actionable insights for any organization looking to streamline HR operations.
Episode Highlights:
• Readiness Assessment: How to evaluate if your organization is prepared for HR digital transformation.
• Paper to Digital: Practical steps for converting paper-based processes into efficient digital systems.
• Core Implementation Strategies: Implementing document retention, data security, and building a centralized content repository.
• Leveraging Existing Tech: Maximizing platforms like OnBase, ADP Workforce, and other vendor tools for automation and electronic forms.
• Actionable Advice: Tips for organizations at every stage of their HR tech journey, whether starting from scratch or optimizing current processes.
Celebrating Transformations: Thriving with Talent Report+
Épisode 80
mercredi 27 mars 2024 • Durée 10:11
Exciting changes are coming … new content, new host, and new podcast schedule … 30 minutes THRIVE is now Talent Report+THRIVE – get even more Talent Report highlights featuring one-on-one Q&As with MRA members—the expert guests, industry leaders, and change-makers taking on the business challenges of today.
Join us for this special episode where we celebrate changes and welcome Jim Morgan as our new host! Reflecting on invaluable insights from the past year and a half, we talk about the lessons learned and unveil the thrilling new podcast format! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sophie Boler for her leadership in guiding 30-minute THRIVE to success, and we wish her the best in her exciting next chapter at MRA.
Join us for the next episode of Talent Report+Thrive Podcast on April 24th and get ready to embark on this exciting new direction with Jim Morgan leading the way! Tune in every 4th Wednesday for your next episode.
Back by Popular Demand: How HR Helps Managers Manage
Épisode 78
mercredi 13 mars 2024 • Durée 21:44
Description: In this episode, we delve into the crucial role of HR in empowering managers to excel in their leadership roles. We explore the various facets of HR support, from department alignment to performance management and employee development, providing listeners with actionable insights and practical steps to enhance their management skills and foster a thriving, engaged workforce. Join us as we unlock the secrets of "How HR Can Help Managers Manage"!
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:49:14
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute THRIVE. Thanks for joining us today. I'm excited for our conversation today because you get to hear from DQ spencer. DQ is an mra. HR Business partner located in our golden valley, minnesota location. But i know you come with a lot of experience and enthusiasm, especially for our topic today, how our can help managers manage.
The Internship Blueprint: Strategies for Companies
Épisode 79
mercredi 28 février 2024 • Durée 46:44
Whether you are just starting an internship program or you have one already, discover the key qualities that make interns thrive, learn how internship programs can shape future leaders, and explore innovative approaches to foster a culture of continuous learning and development. We'll share tips on creating challenging projects that elevate interns to showcase their leadership potential.
00:00:00:01 - 00:00:05:13
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything
00:00:05:13 - 00:00:09:22
and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association.
00:00:09:24 - 00:00:12:24
Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR?
00:00:12:24 - 00:00:14:19
MRA has got you covered.
00:00:14:19 - 00:00:17:17
We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not.
Career Paths Unveiled: Past Trends and Modern Realities
Épisode 75
mercredi 7 février 2024 • Durée 32:22
Description: Embark on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth, where we unravel the intricacies of modern-day career development and its pivotal role in personal and organizational success.
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here.
Mindful Workplaces: Nurturing Health and Well-being
Épisode 77
mercredi 24 janvier 2024 • Durée 30:01
Description: In this episode, we explore the concept of a mindful workplace, its practices, and the profound impact it can have on employee and business success.
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR. MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here.
January Talent Report with Jim Morgan
Épisode 76
mercredi 17 janvier 2024 • Durée 23:47
Description: We're here with the latest talent trends in January, with a spotlight on the evolving role of AI in the workplace. Join us as we discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities surrounding artificial intelligence, and how organizations are harnessing this transformative technology to shape the future of work in the early months of the year.
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here.
HR Trends Shaping the Workplace
Épisode 73
mercredi 10 janvier 2024 • Durée 36:48
Description: In this episode, we explore cutting-edge HR trends. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we delve into the evolving landscape. Discover how HR navigates challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to shape the workplace of the future.
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
2024 Future Forward with MRA’s CEO, Susan Fronk
Épisode 71
mercredi 3 janvier 2024 • Durée 36:31
Description:
In this episode, join us for an insightful conversation with Susan Fronk, President and CEO of MRA. Get ready to kick-start your new year, as we explore trends, strategies, and expert insights that will define success in 2024. Whether you're a professional, entrepreneur, or anyone seeking to thrive in the fast-paced future, Susan shares invaluable advice for making 2024 your best year yet.
Découvrez des podcasts liées à Talent Report+THRIVE. Explorez des podcasts avec des thèmes, sujets, et formats similaires. Ces similarités sont calculées grâce à des données tangibles, pas d'extrapolations !
00:00:49:16 - 00:01:06:08
Unknown
Sounds like a big topic, but I'm excited to kind of break it down. I know we're going to run through a lot of aspects of HR and kind of give our listeners some good action items and stuff so that they can walk away with. So I know this is your first time on the podcast, so I appreciate you come on and excited.
00:01:06:10 - 00:01:26:20
Unknown
Awesome. Me too, hi podcasters. I know that you recently spoke at an event on this topic actually. So before we kind of kick things off, I'm just curious to know why is this really an important topic for our listeners? Yeah, I know you're right. I did speak on the event. It was an awesome event.
00:01:26:20 - 00:01:49:13
Unknown
A lot of energy and enthusiasm. This is a very important topic because a lot of organizations are still struggling with aspect of the function of HR organizations talking about people and people assets being the most important aspect of the company. But they have a hard time showing that people are, because they're the only nonrenewable asset that organizations have.
00:01:49:15 - 00:02:15:23
Unknown
You can't copy the processes, equipment, technology, terminology, but you can't really copy people. So that's why this one is very important. Yeah, that's a great point as we kind of dive in. Now, can you explain how HR really collaborates with managers to emphasize their functional strengths? And kind of part two of that question is how can they use those strengths with their teams to achieve those organizational goals?
00:02:16:00 - 00:02:37:16
Unknown
Yeah, So as you know, I don't know. I don't know. I have a football background. I like to use sport terminologies. That's great. Yeah, Yeah. So, I mean, HR is part of a team, right? HR is one of the few functions that truly supports the whole organization. So they have knowledge throughout each function, but they're not be the subject matter expert on that function.
00:02:37:16 - 00:02:50:12
Unknown
Right? So to probably collaborate with them, you have to just include that clue to include them in our communication conversation and work to collaborate and build that functional component.
00:02:50:14 - 00:03:19:12
Unknown
Speaking of teamwork, we're in a world where teamwork is crucial. So how can HR departments kind of facilitate collaboration among their employees and help managers foster that culture of cooperation and teamwork and collaboration? Yeah. So that collaboration comes from that communication, right? And so a big part of HR is communication, and it's talking to the employees, talking to the supervisors, the managers, the leads.
00:03:19:14 - 00:03:43:09
Unknown
It's really getting to know your people, your biggest assets. HR is a science and that you'll understand that. I mean, as HR, you have that strength, you have that background of understanding people behaviors, thought processes, patterns and processes. But as a as a functional leader, let's say, in accounting or finance, your your, your function, your strengths are going to be with that.
00:03:43:11 - 00:04:03:17
Unknown
So you can you can collaborate with them and to partner with them, engage them. You have to communicate, you have to get in there, you have to go to them. You have to understand what the culture is and how you can THRIVE that. Those behaviors in and and processes to to and build and engage their culture properly. Absolutely.
00:04:03:17 - 00:04:26:22
Unknown
And I know as an HR business partner, you work with a lot of different companies, a lot of different HR department. So do you have any examples or success stories, I would say, of kind of where the HR departments work with teamwork and kind of fostering that collaboration? Yeah, I don't know. Somewhere along the line, HR has gotten such a bad rep as as the good Lord.
00:04:27:01 - 00:04:48:07
Unknown
Yep. And I've been in HR for about 16 years. I have my my Bachelors of Science in HR McMaster Science and during my doctorate business in HR. And through that, I've learned a lot. But I've also learned just as much through my experience. For example, I worked with an organization known, as you mentioned previous to me joining in.
00:04:48:09 - 00:05:21:12
Unknown
It was a very strong union environment and that created a kind of trifecta. Three headed obstacle course because it was the union, it was the business, the factory manufacturing, and it was HR and that's how they viewed it as three different portions, three different aspects of business. And that was a very tall task. So I really had to go in there and work on our collaboration first, partnering with the organization, the plant manager, building that relationship, and then partnering with building that relationship.
00:05:21:14 - 00:05:41:10
Unknown
And I was kind of that liaison that brought it all together, you know, that that organization lacked trust amongst the three. So that was that was very challenging. But just working with them, showing my commitment, my dedication, my, my, my, my processes and my procedures, showing them that, hey, you know this, we're a team. We want the same goal.
00:05:41:14 - 00:06:11:01
Unknown
We set different paths to get there. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of our listeners can kind of resonate with that and relate to that story too, and how their organization like that. So that's good advice. But we also know that compliance is also a critical aspect of HR, too. So do you have any insights on how HR can support managers and ensuring their teams adhere to the regulations and policies that always seem to be changing and updating?
00:06:11:03 - 00:06:36:13
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to kind of get off topic, but get back to topic is going to be. So when I first started in the HR, I tried to assimilate to that that stereotype, that prototype of a human resource manager saying no and yes, and you can't do this and you can't do that. And I wasn't truly myself and I truly started being successful when I started, you know, venturing on and being original.
00:06:36:15 - 00:06:54:04
Unknown
So I took the mindset of that. I wasn't going to tell leaders and managers, No, you can't do this Right off the bat. I was going to tell them, Hey, I want to get that goal that you want, but here's how we can do this. Here's how we can get it done versus knowing. Yes. So it's compliance. It's the same kind of issues in that aspect versus telling them no or yes.
00:06:54:06 - 00:07:13:06
Unknown
I'll give them parameters and say, Hey, I see what you're trying to do. This is the most compliant and best way to get there. So let's get it done together. Yeah. So, so running through kind of the task of all the tasks of HR, another one is to motivate employees, which can be kind of difficult. So how can HR
00:07:13:06 - 00:07:41:05
Unknown
Professionals and managers work together to keep their teams engaged and motivated? That's that's a tough one, right? Because, you know, I say this all the time is that we're called individuals for a reason. So we're usually created in the we have individual values and views and perspectives. So to have that motivation, it's going to take really knowing and building a relationship with your organization, your culture and your employees.
00:07:41:07 - 00:08:00:07
Unknown
So know your employees. One thing I told a member that I talked to, you know, he asked me, how can I motivate my employees? What's going on? They're not gauging. And I you know, I sat there and I said, Hey, you mind if I watch it for a little bit? Watch for a little bit? No problem. No problem.
00:08:00:09 - 00:08:21:09
Unknown
So I sat down and took half the morning and just kind of watch his interactions with the employees. And I literally told him, I said, I saw four separate times where people were trying to talk to you and you didn't talk to people trying to walk. My actually, I didn't even look at and on two separate times we were trying to talk to you and you said, you know, you're busy with tomorrow.
00:08:21:11 - 00:08:42:10
Unknown
I said, Engagement goes both ways, motivation goes both ways. You have to go and engage with them. Right. As a position of authority. Naturally. I think the way people are going to be timid to engage with you so that you have to said that you're setting a standard. Like I said, the engagement and motivation goes both ways. Show them that you're willing to do what you're asking them to do.
00:08:42:12 - 00:09:02:17
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. I feel like that's a good point. I know a lot of companies right now just have to kind of reevaluate what they're doing. Like you kind of sat in as a fly on the wall and you were able to see it. The HR department may not be able to see it because they're in it. So sometimes you kind of need an outsider almost to come in and see that.
00:09:02:17 - 00:09:32:14
Unknown
ALL Yeah. So when it comes to achieving results, alignment with an organization is key, obviously. So how can HR create that alignment between different teams and departments? Yeah, so alignment comes out. You know, I talked about inclusion, communication, conversation alignment comes with understanding the goal, right? And creating processes and procedures that align with that, that THRIVE toward that goal.
00:09:32:16 - 00:09:55:11
Unknown
A lot of companies have processes just because they happen. They said, we always have this or this is what we were always. But your goal changed, the business changed. You know, the world of business is very dynamic. It's always changing for you to keep the same processes. It might not make sense to achieve that goal. So I always tell the people, you know, look at what you're trying to achieve, work backwards and this is what we want it.
00:09:55:14 - 00:10:15:18
Unknown
This is what we want to achieve. So let's do this. This, this is to get there versus, well, let's do this and go kind of around it, you know, align toward that goal, direct your process, your behavior and your diet and your actions toward achieving that ultimate goal. And just what you said right there, the world of business is very dynamic.
00:10:15:18 - 00:10:47:18
Unknown
So I guess that kind of brings us to our next point of how can our assist managers in adapting their strategies and tactics to meet new challenges when business is always changing? Yeah, it's just constant reassessment, right? So like I said, I've been organizations all different functions and industries, and the thing I hear the most is this is how we've always done it or this is what they told us to do versus, you know, having that critical thinking skills, thinking about, hey, this is what they told us to do.
00:10:47:18 - 00:11:03:20
Unknown
And so I was done it. But it doesn't kind of make sense. We're trying to do so we're going back to think about this is what we're trying to we're trying to achieve organic business. We're trying to grow. We're trying to we're trying to set customers and employee satisfaction. So what can we do to get better? Understanding your culture.
00:11:04:01 - 00:11:26:13
Unknown
Culture is big, so I don't know if you know that I'm a teacher as well. Professor There's that. There's perio, pedagogy and anthropology. The type of learning that adults when when they learn, they want to learn by seeing what you do and looking what you do versus when you're a kid, you do this because you're told to do because you have to go through this.
00:11:26:13 - 00:11:43:23
Unknown
You have to work through school, you have to go to high school as adults. They're there because they only want to be there. So let's make it a department that they want to be there right there. It's going to be changing. Not everyone's going to be the same, just like business is going to be evolving. It's going to be dynamic.
00:11:43:23 - 00:12:12:02
Unknown
It's going to be contemporary. Some things may stay traditional, but it's going to move. You have to move with flexibility. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I should have mentioned that you were a teacher in the beginning too. I got so many different perspectives now from, well, we've kind of mentioned this throughout the whole podcast, but it seems like employee engagement is often one of the biggest concerns for managers.
00:12:12:04 - 00:12:44:19
Unknown
So and you've touched on this briefly, but how can it really assist in measuring and improving employee engagement then to enhance team performance in an organization? Yeah, and that's that's a tough question, right? Because everyone is going to be different. But the thing it can say is, you know, just like business and sales engagement is building relationships, then understanding where you're talking to, what you're talking about, understanding the optimal goal and just building everybody should go toward it.
00:12:44:19 - 00:13:09:14
Unknown
And earlier, making that effort to engage with their employees, making that effort to be as transparent. That's transparent as possible. And so you can't be completely transparent all the time, but be as open as possible because more people understand them more than want to THRIVE that goal and helping them get those fingerprints and open and get that engagement and touchpoints within that plan.
00:13:09:16 - 00:13:28:24
Unknown
And that also helps, you know, they have a little skin in the game that will help them engage and help them. So, you know, I'm a part of this, right? But it starts and starts with the culture. And how is your culture is an engaging culture. Is it an open door culture? Is it, hey, I know we're business here, but how is your day and how are you doing?
00:13:29:01 - 00:13:45:18
Unknown
Look at the example I gave previously. When a manager, you know, shoot people off or was too busy to talk to people or, you know, he walked from his office right to where he needs to go at to engage. You have to show them this is what engagement looks like. You have to show that, hey, I'm motivated to do my job.
00:13:45:18 - 00:14:13:12
Unknown
You have to think, what do you think about this? Talk to them and increase that communication, increase that inclusion and then kind of full support. HR Is a big portion of that because a lot of people really don't have that perspective or understanding or mindset. And as a human resource manager, we understand that people are our business and people should be everyone's business because that's what business is created on.
00:14:13:14 - 00:14:40:05
Unknown
Even even technical businesses, even process oriented businesses. They're all about people, right? We understand our people. The more we can utilize to take advantage of how great that asset can be and how much we can get to them, how much they can get does Yeah, absolutely. I love that you emphasized the importance of culture and having a good culture because that honestly THRIVEs your organization.
00:14:40:05 - 00:15:07:23
Unknown
And you can tell on day one and even probably both before you work at the organization what their culture is because she's a very prominent thing in an organization. So it's like, you know, example that I give, which I've seen many times, is when you're interviewing people, show their best in the best of times and say, Hey, we're going over their culture where, you know, we want to hear everything you're saying.
00:15:08:00 - 00:15:40:02
Unknown
But when you start, it's absolutely And I walk down the hall, every door was closed, closed door meetings, Everything feels like it's secretive. It feels like you're very being excluded. And that's absolute culture. So part of my research for my my doctorate was how to decrease turnover. The intention was really, truly millennials because I do my research on generation, but in how to decrease turnover intentionally with the number one decrease, there was the culture right?
00:15:40:04 - 00:15:56:16
Unknown
Are you saying you do or are you being transparent? Are you including is are you hiring and retaining people? You need to cultivate that culture and that's a big thing is if you don't have a culture where you if you don't have what you want now, that's not a big deal. A lot of lot religion are in there.
00:15:56:20 - 00:16:18:03
Unknown
They don't have what they want to go. They want to achieve. So but how are you going to get that right? What's your plan and how are you communicate and really in that plan, to your people, to your to your managers, and how are they acting on that? Well, you know, it's one thing to say it, but it's another thing to actually let them go.
00:16:18:03 - 00:16:43:00
Unknown
I know you've given a ton of best practices and advice and tips throughout this whole podcast, but do you have any best practices for HR Professionals to really identify and leverage the functional strengths with within their organization to THRIVE that success that everybody wants? Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of times i will say this is a very known saying, but get comfortable with being accountable.
00:16:43:04 - 00:17:15:01
Unknown
Right? So a lot of times when you talk the functions this is my first experience with my career when I taught the different functions and I wasn't prepared to talk to them about their business or their function. And so that decreased their trust and decrease their trust in me. So the more time to understand it and functions, I can have a direct conversation with about what their strengths were and and they can see that I'm taking that action to really understand what their strengths are and what their function is and what their goal is.
00:17:15:01 - 00:17:43:14
Unknown
And the more I understood how they act, how they behave, what their processes were, the more I could create strategy to more insert myself into their function and help them grow. And it helped me grow so much. Understand business financially, understand business through the processes of manufacturing, understand business details and marketing. But I just, you know, like I said, part of the reason why I got my BBA was because I had a master's in science, which is great.
00:17:43:17 - 00:18:11:11
Unknown
But I want to understand business as a whole more holistically. And that helped me grow so much, helped me grow immensely understanding different functioning business. And that's what I would give to each age and professional in any, anyone, any function. I try to learn business. Don't try to, you know, obviously, you know, you do. You're your expert at what you do, but be an expert at understanding the business and that will help you grow with your organization.
00:18:11:11 - 00:18:30:01
Unknown
There's so much that is great advice. That's something that I'm trying to do too, is just even shadowing an apartment for a day to see what their day in the life is. And that, like you said, will help you understand the business as a whole and will help you do your job better, too, on the long run. Yeah.
00:18:30:01 - 00:18:48:20
Unknown
Yeah. And with that is I know it sounds boring, but you know, what do you what's, what's going on in that meeting. I said in that meeting where. Hey, you mind if I, you know, tag along with you? Like I said, Do you mind if I show you? Do you mind if I hang out and kind of the following a little bit and understand what you're going through so I can better help you, better assist you and better support you.
00:18:49:01 - 00:19:09:00
Unknown
And that's what it's about. You know, selfishly, I was trying to grow the business, not trying to grow myself, so I was trying to be a better project, better employee and a better person and more advanced to business. Absolutely. Well, as we wrap up your last question, can you share any key takeaways for our listeners on how HR
00:19:09:00 - 00:19:38:00
Unknown
Can really be that strategic partner in helping managers manage effectively and achieve the optimal results in their organizations. Bring it full circle here. We'll circle sort of our circle like i would say, kind of like I said, understand the business more. You understand that business and that function and that environment, the more alignment you can create, right? So again, help them understand processes that they don't know the process of, hey, this is what we're doing.
00:19:38:02 - 00:20:08:20
Unknown
Is that process, that HR Role. When i don't understand it, then they probably won't rule it out to the best of their ability. They probably won't engage in it to the best of your abilities. So help them understand it, right? Understand their business. They can understand your business. Say that that alignment, that inclusion, you know, still in their meetings, our conversation with them, engage with them, go out of your way, you know, go beyond a little bit to make them feel, you know, that they trust you, that the understanding that they believe in you.
00:20:08:22 - 00:20:30:23
Unknown
Because the more trust, more understanding, the more inclusion you have, more transparency, you'll get more engaging, you'll get, the better you be able to help them and support them. And the more the business will be able to grow and that's what it's about, is creating that organic growth and that internal growth as well as that external world. So you can be successful in the business, can be successful decades.
00:20:31:00 - 00:20:54:01
Unknown
This was great. I want to thank you for being on the podcast today and sharing all that great content and all the advice on how HR Can really help managers manage. So to our listeners, i would just encourage you if you liked our chat and topic today, comment something new that you learned today or something that you're going to start implementing or anything else that you'd like to add on to the conversation.
00:20:54:01 - 00:21:18:04
Unknown
We want to know your thoughts, what you're thinking. If you have any new ideas on this topic. And don't forget to share out this episode, of course, and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. We have all the resources you need in the show notes below. We've also included resources on this topic and DQ's contact info and LinkedIn profile if you want to connect with him.
00:21:18:06 - 00:21:39:18
Unknown
Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today and we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out.
00:21:39:18 - 00:21:44:11
Unknown
Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
00:00:17:17 - 00:00:21:04
I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:22:21
Now it's time to thrive.
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Hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 Minute Thrive.
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Today we're going to be talking about the ins and outs of internships.
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So if you're looking to start an internship program at your organization,
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or maybe you have one started already, but you're looking to make it
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even more successful, it's a good thing you're here today with us
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because we're joined by Courtney Lamers, MRA, senior manager of member Engagement
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and MRA's Intern Leadership program organizer.
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So Courtney's really here to help organizations
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not only design and implement an internship program,
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but also help develop existing ones into successful programs.
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And having been an intern myself at Emory,
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I love this topic, and I'm really excited to talk about it.
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So, Courtney, let's start.
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Start from the top here.
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Those who have never implemented an internship program before.
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What are some of the key starting factors that a company would really need?
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Absolutely.
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Great question. And thank you for having me today.
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You know,
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it really
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is that time of the year where everyone is reaching out about internships.
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And it's been exciting to hear from a lot of companies that are just
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beginning their internship journey.
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So I think it's going to be a really fun summer and I'm super
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excited for all of you that have interns.
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I think those that have had interns have really found it
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valuable and continue to see that year over year.
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And so I'm really excited for all of those companies that are starting it.
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I think that's a great question to start with, just because we do
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see a lot of companies that are starting internship program.
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And I would say the key in starting an internship program
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and there's a lot of things that go into it, but one of the most important
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things is making sure that you have the correct manager
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and managers in place to support and intern support their experience
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as a whole,
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and be able to have some of those
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difficult conversation zones where I think we see with companies,
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a lot of times managers will come and say, I really want an intern,
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but if that manager may not have the culture in the department,
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that character may not
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necessarily be equipped with the tools to be a great manager for an intern.
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Someone companies are having those conversations, so I think manager buy in
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and understanding of what it really takes to have an intern is huge.
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I think like any new employee, I think interns
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take a little bit of extra time and really supporting that experience
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from mentorship and coaching and giving them opportunities.
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There is a little bit of additional work
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for an intern, so
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I think we see companies that have super successful intern programs
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and what you see behind those are managers and companies that have complete buy in.
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So I think honestly, before you even get to the manager piece,
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you need to think about and talk with your leadership team and understand
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that there is a buy in needed and an investment honestly,
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between both time and money and what goes into a great experience.
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So I think, you know, really the buy in is the first step
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and then there are a lot of steps along the way to get to that manager piece.
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But I think that is so key.
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Just kind of starting about with the whole experience.
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So obviously once you have the manager buy in, that's huge.
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Or leadership by an excuse me.
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And then I think really think about why you're having an intern.
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You know, I think in the past interns have historically been added
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to a team to help with some of those, you know, daily tasks
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and some of those things that can be taken off of other people's plates.
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But we see a lot of companies that are looking to hire
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interns for a long term perspective.
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So one from a brand awareness standpoint, these interns are going back to
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and talking to their friends on campus
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and even on social media about their experience as a whole.
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So those you know, word of mouth brand, ambassador pieces is a huge part of it.
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And we also see interns a lot as their town supply chain.
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So really trying to hang on to those interns.
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So just really understanding the why.
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What's the purpose of your program and then putting some of those structural
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pieces around to support the intern throughout the length of their internship.
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And then, of course,
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thinking about what are those elements that make this an experience as a whole?
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So of course there's the work component of it,
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but what mentorship opportunities, what networking, professional development,
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all of that staff to provide this great experience.
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So the interns really want to either
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say at your organization or go back and tell their friends all about it.
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So long winded way of saying like, there's a lot of pieces to get started.
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But the most important one, just having that manager
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really be there to support their interns.
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Sorry that as long you continue to hear.
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Question So there's a lot that goes into starting an internship program,
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and like you said before, even thinking about it, it's the whole planning process
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and evaluating why am I having interns
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who at the company can manage the interns
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and has the capacity to do that, and then it's also thinking about like
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some companies may
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have one intern, but some may have 30.
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So it's like,
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how do you split that up between managers and and roles and stuff like that?
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But once you have that plan
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in place, like you were talking about, even then, even if you already
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have a great internship program developed, how do you find the interns?
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I think that's a huge question, like recruiting best practices.
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Do you have any suggestions on where to find interns, when to find interns?
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I know now is a great time to start talking about it,
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but just looking for any best practices you might have there.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Shameless plug for companies Recruiting services team.
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They really do
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all of their recruiting for interns, so they are a great resource to tap.
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But I would say we see
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a lot of interns get hired from networking and schools.
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We just had a hot topic survey not too long ago
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and I think like 87% of our respondents have that.
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They find their interns and they have a lot of great luck by
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going to job fairs at universities and colleges
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and just different locations where they're able to network with people.
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I would also say share it out to your LinkedIn page.
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You know,
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I think we see a lot of interns get hired because of connections they have.
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And I
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you know, I get we'll find out something about MRA's intern leadership program
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and I'll get people come back and say like, well, I don't have
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an intern at my company, but I do have a daughter
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that's looking for an internship or a niece or a nephew.
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And I'm always willing to help pair that.
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So you just never know who is going to see some of that.
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But like I said, I think for the most part,
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people have a lot of luck getting in front of the universities,
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the colleges and being on campus in front of the next generation
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of talent and just from a brand awareness standpoint, there's always a benefit
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there, too.
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As far as timing, you know, I think we've seen it
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be done successfully at various times throughout the year.
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You know,
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we are seeing a lot of companies now that are ramping up for summer internship.
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So they are starting to just find their interns.
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Now, we do recommend a little bit earlier than now at this point of the year.
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We'll see some of the schools and the organizations
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that have bigger internship programs are starting right after the summer.
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So they're starting in September hiring all the way for the next summer.
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And I mean, it's a lot of work to fill.
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35 internships or however many there are, but a lot of the career
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offers happen early in the fall and again in the spring.
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So just kind of thinking,
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being strategic about that, it doesn't mean you have to start in the fall.
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People have a lot of great luck in the spring,
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so definitely an option to.
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But as far as best practices, I would also say think about your job
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description and your job ad and you don't have to put
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every single detail, every single project that they're going to be working on.
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But some highlight some of those main responsibilities,
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of course, but then some of those fun things too.
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So like, for example,
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we have a company that's participating in the Intern Leadership Program program
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that I'm a grant offers, and they put that as part of their job description
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in every single one of their interns
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that they ended up hiring have said
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they had to ask the question, like, Why did you apply for this internship?
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And they also had the intern leadership program.
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So some of that professional development that's part of that intern
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program can be part of the the job at that job description.
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So some of those fun key elements in showcasing the mentorship
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and networking opportunities that they're going to have.
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And also I would just say
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if there's an opportunity for them to learn the business as a whole,
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put some of that stuff in your job ads as well.
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I think interns in general are just trying to gain as much experience
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and knowledge as they can.
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So if they see that in your job description, in your job ad,
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I think that's going to be a huge draw for them.
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Absolutely.
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I was going to say you're trying to attract these interns like a new employee.
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So like like you said, be creative and show off what flexible arrangements
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you may have something that's going to attract
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an intern to work for your organization.
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Well, those are the things that we hear about from the interns, is
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they like I mean, they like the flexibility, of course.
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But I think some of the struggle is
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they really want to learn from others and be mentored.
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And it's really hard to do that if they're coming into the office,
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which they a lot of them have shown that
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they want to come into the office for that mentorship opportunity.
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But if they're coming in
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and nobody else is in the office, that can be a really challenging thing too.
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So if you are able to express
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what those mentorship opportunities and those learning opportunities are, that
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I think is a great way for them to like, really understand how that could happen.
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And the other thing just kind of going back to,
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you know, the timing of hiring interns,
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we've seen a lot more in the last year
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to of companies that are hiring interns and then
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they're struggling to retain them, even to start their internship.
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So, you know, you have to find that balance of
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hiring them early enough, but then also keeping them engaged.
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So if you do hire them in January,
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that's still another five or six months until they start their internship.
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So just think about how you're going to keep them engaged
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and excited about your internship experience.
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You know, we typically we've seen some data
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and we recommend, you know, every three weeks that you're reaching out
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or three to every three weeks, you're reaching out to those interns,
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you know, with some type of communication, whether it's
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their managers are reaching out, whether it's different people on the team,
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HR Sharing company newsletters, all of that stuff to keep them engaged
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so they're not like i still have this internship.
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I haven't heard from them in a couple of months. Like, what's going on here?
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So just keeping them excited and engaged is important too.
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Yeah, absolutely. Those are all great points.
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Let's say you have
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your group of hired interns. Now.
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What steps are really taken then to integrate them into the company's work
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environment and to kind of
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what does the onboarding process look like for them?
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Yeah, I think, you know, that's a great question.
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And I would say I would just start
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by looking at what your current onboarding process is for any new hire.
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I mean, a lot of that will pertain to them as well.
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But then looking at what additional pieces are you going to add?
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Again, I think less the internship experience really is
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what I just had an experience.
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So what are you doing for them on day one
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to really provide that impact and get them excited for the summer?
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Obviously there are some major
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things that you just have
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to take care of on day one, but what swag are you giving them?
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Are you buying them lunch or are they getting to meet with a lot of people?
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You know, I think day one really should be about building some of that excitement.
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But then how are they learning and growing throughout their entire summer?
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And what is that learning plan and onboarding look like beyond day
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one and how to integrate them within the organization?
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And of course, every company is different.
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And what they need to know.
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But I would just really recommend that you look at your own current
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onboarding process, how to even enhance that even a little bit further,
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like knowing that this a lot of them this might be their first real
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job in the workplace
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and how do you help them feel comfortable and navigate some of those,
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you know, nuances or things that people you assume people just know
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by being in the workplace and even just like dress code.
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I know that's not the most exciting thing, but like,
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you know, we've had a lot of companies say
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our interns don't even know what our dress code is.
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And, you know, you forget that sometimes this is their first real job.
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So having to help them out.
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And honestly, the earlier, the better.
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That can be something you can communicate even before they start.
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So I think really just
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how do you assimilate them with your organization
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and your best practices within your company and how they can,
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you know, feel comfortable and be set up for success from the beginning?
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You know, I look at it.
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So if you when you were an intern, which was, you know, a while ago now, but,
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you know, you texted me and your manager at
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the time was like, hey, like we're about a week and a half out.
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Like what?
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You know, what is the dress code?
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And we're like, my gosh.
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Like, how did we not even tell her about? Like, that's a great question.
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You know, like, you're just trying to be set up for success.
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So any of those things that might be on their minds just let those know upfront.
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And I think also just a side note of that, it's like
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make sure they have your phone number so they can text you
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those questions and encourage them to do that.
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Because like when you text us, we were like,
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my gosh, like, of course, how do we not even think about that?
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And obviously it was on your mind because you sent us a message.
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Yeah, that's funny because I was going to bring that up as an example here.
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Just showing the importance of onboarding in the interim
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because like you said, a lot of the time an internship is
00:14:33:00 - 00:14:36:19
maybe somebody's first real life kind of job experience.
00:14:36:19 - 00:14:42:00
So the onboarding process is just as important, as important,
00:14:42:00 - 00:14:44:08
if not the most important stuff, in my opinion.
00:14:44:08 - 00:14:46:08
Just because you want to
00:14:46:08 - 00:14:50:05
make that group first impression and get them excited on day one.
00:14:50:07 - 00:14:54:15
And yeah, I think for my experience
00:14:54:17 - 00:14:59:04
I felt comfortable to text you guys and say, Hey, like
00:14:59:06 - 00:15:03:02
we're a couple days away from first day, what's the dress code?
00:15:03:04 - 00:15:04:14
But then I also remember
00:15:04:14 - 00:15:07:00
feeling very comfortable when I first walked in
00:15:07:00 - 00:15:09:09
because I got to meet everyone at the company.
00:15:09:09 - 00:15:12:19
There is a swag like gift
00:15:12:19 - 00:15:15:19
bag or laid all over my desk.
00:15:15:19 - 00:15:19:00
Just the process of day one one. Awesome.
00:15:19:00 - 00:15:23:06
And I remember also being in the car because
00:15:23:08 - 00:15:28:11
you and my manager took me out to lunch and I remember like taking a picture,
00:15:28:11 - 00:15:33:00
a selfie in the backseat, and I'm like, Mom would be taking me out to lunch.
00:15:33:00 - 00:15:34:23
And I had my name tag.
00:15:34:23 - 00:15:38:02
But it is the little things that make the day
00:15:38:02 - 00:15:41:04
one experience and it gets I don't know, it made me excited.
00:15:41:04 - 00:15:44:10
Hey, to come back day two and like, what's day two going to look like?
00:15:44:10 - 00:15:46:06
What stage three gonna look like?
00:15:46:06 - 00:15:49:20
So kind of like continuously sparking
00:15:49:20 - 00:15:53:15
that excitement to make make the experience great.
00:15:53:17 - 00:15:58:09
And it was also I mean, I think that's so true.
00:15:58:09 - 00:16:02:03
And you know, I think you start to take some of those things for granted
00:16:02:04 - 00:16:03:09
like a business card,
00:16:03:09 - 00:16:07:11
a name tag, like, you know, you've been in in the business world for a while.
00:16:07:11 - 00:16:08:06
And, you know,
00:16:08:06 - 00:16:10:03
I think business cards were such a big deal
00:16:10:03 - 00:16:12:18
when I got them for the first time was like, my gosh, she's an intern.
00:16:12:18 - 00:16:13:22
I have business cards.
00:16:13:22 - 00:16:16:06
And it was like giving them to my family members.
00:16:16:06 - 00:16:19:08
And it's like, you know, it's such a little thing, but it really does.
00:16:19:08 - 00:16:22:08
You're like, my gosh, like I'm an adult now, you know?
00:16:22:09 - 00:16:25:19
So I think, like you said, it's all about those little experiences.
00:16:26:00 - 00:16:26:11
Yeah.
00:16:26:11 - 00:16:31:17
And just to add on to that, to I know we talked about going out to lunch
00:16:31:17 - 00:16:36:01
or doing something special, but even if you have virtual interns
00:16:36:01 - 00:16:39:06
or remote interns, which I think is kind of
00:16:39:08 - 00:16:41:21
becoming the new normal, almost,
00:16:41:21 - 00:16:44:21
you can still do those special things.
00:16:44:21 - 00:16:46:13
Maybe you send them a gift card on day
00:16:46:13 - 00:16:51:05
one to go grab something for lunch or maybe do a virtual lunch with them.
00:16:51:05 - 00:16:54:10
So we were talking about our experience in person,
00:16:54:10 - 00:16:58:18
but this can definitely apply virtually to Absolutely for sure.
00:16:58:21 - 00:17:02:13
I mean, I think gift cards, just DoorDash and something to their door,
00:17:02:15 - 00:17:03:18
There's a lot of there's
00:17:03:18 - 00:17:07:14
a lot of creative things out there that companies are doing, for sure.
00:17:07:16 - 00:17:08:07
Yeah.
00:17:08:07 - 00:17:09:22
So next step here now
00:17:09:22 - 00:17:13:15
we talk about recruiting interns, kind of whole planning process.
00:17:13:17 - 00:17:17:11
So let's say your internship program is established.
00:17:17:13 - 00:17:21:21
How would you really ensure its sustainability and what strategies
00:17:21:24 - 00:17:25:01
would you employ for the continuous improvement
00:17:25:01 - 00:17:29:09
based on feedback and just industry trends?
00:17:29:11 - 00:17:31:04
Yeah, I mean, I always saw companies
00:17:31:04 - 00:17:33:15
like don't be afraid to just ask your interns
00:17:33:15 - 00:17:35:14
what they're thinking and ask for feedback.
00:17:35:14 - 00:17:36:23
You know,
00:17:36:23 - 00:17:41:16
I think some interns are more comfortable than others about giving their feedback,
00:17:41:16 - 00:17:45:17
but I think, you know, even just a full survey every week
00:17:45:17 - 00:17:49:14
or every other week, whether it comes from HR Or the hiring manager,
00:17:49:16 - 00:17:51:19
just giving them an opportunity to share
00:17:51:19 - 00:17:54:19
what's on their mind and what recommendations they have.
00:17:54:20 - 00:17:58:24
We see a lot of companies that typically do you know what is known
00:17:58:24 - 00:18:01:19
as an exit interview where they're just asking for feedback
00:18:01:19 - 00:18:05:13
and the amount of times companies say like, wow, that was such a simple thing.
00:18:05:13 - 00:18:07:22
We could have implemented that if we knew.
00:18:07:22 - 00:18:12:08
So we're even seeing companies that are doing poll surveys like I
00:18:12:08 - 00:18:17:04
mentioned, or a couple of weeks in, like how was your first month on the job?
00:18:17:04 - 00:18:21:08
Is there anything else we can do to support you in For the most part, and
00:18:21:08 - 00:18:25:03
HR Has reported, at least from the groups that i've talked with,
00:18:25:05 - 00:18:27:12
they're getting really good feedback from their interns,
00:18:27:12 - 00:18:29:19
and they're like some of the things are so small
00:18:29:19 - 00:18:32:15
that we can just implement right away, and some of them are bigger picture
00:18:32:15 - 00:18:35:15
that we can take, you know, in a white company. Why?
00:18:35:15 - 00:18:39:03
And so I got to just talk to them, see how they're doing, and give them
00:18:39:09 - 00:18:43:12
an opportunity in a safe space to have those conversations.
00:18:43:14 - 00:18:45:15
I would also just say,
00:18:45:15 - 00:18:48:15
talking to other companies and reading more on best practices
00:18:48:15 - 00:18:50:15
about what other companies are doing,
00:18:50:15 - 00:18:52:10
there's a lot of great information out there.
00:18:52:10 - 00:18:57:11
You know, of course, we have our roundtables and internships
00:18:57:11 - 00:19:00:21
typically come up in a lot of the different roundtables.
00:19:00:21 - 00:19:02:09
So just being able to hear
00:19:02:09 - 00:19:06:02
what cool things other companies are doing are a great way to benchmark,
00:19:06:04 - 00:19:09:03
you know, what your program looks like and what you're providing to your interns
00:19:09:03 - 00:19:10:00
and even just spark
00:19:10:00 - 00:19:14:16
some additional ideas and, you know, help bounce ideas off of each other as well.
00:19:14:18 - 00:19:16:00
Yeah, for sure.
00:19:16:00 - 00:19:19:15
So we've talked about the importance of continuous
00:19:19:15 - 00:19:22:22
learning and skill development with interns.
00:19:22:24 - 00:19:25:14
So how do you really foster a culture
00:19:25:14 - 00:19:30:19
of that continuous learning with your internship programs?
00:19:30:21 - 00:19:34:08
And I guess how do you kind of encourage interns
00:19:34:08 - 00:19:41:21
to stay updated on industry trends and kind of want to acquire new skills?
00:19:41:23 - 00:19:45:24
Yeah, You know, when you sent this to me in advance, I was looking through this
00:19:45:24 - 00:19:51:19
and I was thinking a lot of a lot of the term culture of continuous
00:19:51:22 - 00:19:56:09
learning and continuous professional development mindset.
00:19:56:11 - 00:19:59:19
And at first when I started reading the question, I was like,
00:19:59:21 - 00:20:04:07
I was thinking about it from a manager and culture standpoint beyond the intern.
00:20:04:07 - 00:20:08:07
And I think, well, we hear from companies and managers is they learn so much
00:20:08:07 - 00:20:11:12
and get a whole different perspective by bringing in the interns.
00:20:11:14 - 00:20:12:18
So part of that is like when you're
00:20:12:18 - 00:20:15:04
building the intern program from the beginning,
00:20:15:04 - 00:20:18:10
you're setting expectations of your company and your culture of we're
00:20:18:10 - 00:20:22:15
bringing these interns in to do real work, make a real impact,
00:20:22:17 - 00:20:25:09
and kind of setting that up from the beginning and be open minded.
00:20:25:09 - 00:20:26:13
So they're not just here to do
00:20:26:13 - 00:20:30:21
some of the dirty work, if you will, and they're really here to make an impact.
00:20:30:21 - 00:20:34:02
So I think, you know, the continuous learning goes from both sides.
00:20:34:02 - 00:20:37:15
From the intern perspective, I think
00:20:37:17 - 00:20:41:05
we see so many interns, almost all of them that we see
00:20:41:05 - 00:20:45:11
already come in with just a hunger to learn and absorb so much.
00:20:45:11 - 00:20:49:20
I think you're you're lucky with that demographic of people and interns
00:20:49:20 - 00:20:53:08
because they just naturally are here to learn as much as they can.
00:20:53:13 - 00:20:54:24
They're excited to learn and they're excited
00:20:54:24 - 00:20:57:14
to grow in their career and they want to do whatever they can.
00:20:57:14 - 00:20:59:23
You know, again, I think part of it
00:20:59:23 - 00:21:03:14
even can go back to their job description or job expectations of
00:21:03:18 - 00:21:06:14
what is your professional development, How are you going to learn this?
00:21:06:14 - 00:21:08:07
And even having maybe
00:21:08:07 - 00:21:13:24
an individual development plan for them and learn it, you know, part of it being a
00:21:14:01 - 00:21:17:08
an opportunity for them to learn industry standards, maybe some job shadow,
00:21:17:08 - 00:21:18:09
some of that type of stuff.
00:21:18:09 - 00:21:21:16
But then also some of those are skills that they can take no matter what role
00:21:21:16 - 00:21:23:21
they have in their career
00:21:23:23 - 00:21:24:22
communication.
00:21:24:22 - 00:21:28:06
You know, all those leadership skills change management, all of that is all
00:21:28:08 - 00:21:32:02
good and things that they can put on their resume.
00:21:32:04 - 00:21:36:14
I also recommend talking about it in your one on one conversations with managers.
00:21:36:14 - 00:21:39:14
And it doesn't have to be every single day.
00:21:39:14 - 00:21:42:16
But I think, you know, when I was an intern again, this is a while ago,
00:21:42:21 - 00:21:46:19
but I think you're doing projects that might feel mundane to you
00:21:46:21 - 00:21:50:16
and you don't necessarily even realize the impact that you're having.
00:21:50:18 - 00:21:55:12
And like I remember when I was talking to one of my managers in
00:21:55:14 - 00:22:00:10
a previous internship and they were like, my gosh, like you did a great job
00:22:00:12 - 00:22:04:08
with this project management, like project management to your skill set
00:22:04:08 - 00:22:07:02
and add that to your resume. And I was like, Project management.
00:22:07:02 - 00:22:10:14
Like, all I did was schedule some meetings and take some notes or whatever,
00:22:10:16 - 00:22:12:07
and they were like, No, you did way more than that.
00:22:12:07 - 00:22:16:10
But even just being able to explain the impact that the interns are having,
00:22:16:10 - 00:22:19:05
and I feel like I don't know if you can speak on experience,
00:22:19:05 - 00:22:22:23
but I feel like interns don't always realize, like they just feel like
00:22:22:23 - 00:22:24:24
they're doing a small project and then it's like,
00:22:24:24 - 00:22:28:10
No, this was actually huge and this is what I did and X, Y and Z,
00:22:28:10 - 00:22:30:13
and these are the skills that you learn from it.
00:22:30:13 - 00:22:33:00
So we can talk about feedback in a minute.
00:22:33:00 - 00:22:36:12
But as far as you know, having those conversations and helping
00:22:36:12 - 00:22:40:08
them understand what they've done and the skills they have is huge.
00:22:40:10 - 00:22:42:09
Yeah, I going off of that.
00:22:42:09 - 00:22:48:15
I was recently reading an article, a LinkedIn article on 2024
00:22:48:17 - 00:22:52:21
internship trends, and one of them was
00:22:52:23 - 00:22:58:03
something like Prioritize skill development over traditional work.
00:22:58:05 - 00:23:02:18
And I think we've emphasized that a lot here on the skill development.
00:23:02:18 - 00:23:05:24
And it doesn't mean interns can't do traditional work
00:23:05:24 - 00:23:11:00
like the hands on kind of mundane stuff like you were saying.
00:23:11:02 - 00:23:14:13
But it's really like talking about what skills they're developing
00:23:14:13 - 00:23:19:17
and what skills you as an employer want them to develop so that they succeed
00:23:19:17 - 00:23:23:07
in an internship and kind of growing into their career path.
00:23:23:07 - 00:23:26:20
So just kind of goes to show the importance.
00:23:26:20 - 00:23:29:01
It's on 2024 internship trends.
00:23:29:01 - 00:23:32:13
So yeah, if I were to ask skill development
00:23:32:13 - 00:23:35:23
in your interns, for sure.
00:23:36:00 - 00:23:38:10
So kind of going off,
00:23:38:10 - 00:23:43:05
I know you said that interns are usually they have that hunger
00:23:43:05 - 00:23:47:05
to develop new skills and to do great work.
00:23:47:07 - 00:23:49:22
What other qualities and skills
00:23:49:22 - 00:23:53:11
should leaders really help develop in their interns?
00:23:53:13 - 00:23:57:22
Yeah, you know, I think now that this is necessarily a skill,
00:23:57:22 - 00:24:03:07
but helping them understand, even just like workplace one on one and
00:24:03:09 - 00:24:05:20
terminology and just like
00:24:05:20 - 00:24:09:02
business lines, I just, I think sometimes we all are like,
00:24:09:06 - 00:24:10:11
yeah, we all know what this means,
00:24:10:11 - 00:24:14:05
like end of day and the business day, even just things like that.
00:24:14:07 - 00:24:19:08
But as far as skills, we've seen a lot of emphasis
00:24:19:08 - 00:24:23:13
on communication and I think that goes just beyond interns as well.
00:24:23:13 - 00:24:27:21
In a hybrid remote workplace where people are working in different time
00:24:27:21 - 00:24:30:21
zones and all of that, I think communicate and even just different generations.
00:24:30:21 - 00:24:35:04
We've seen a lot of conversation about what does good communication look like.
00:24:35:04 - 00:24:37:19
And so I think that's a big one.
00:24:37:19 - 00:24:42:03
I think bringing ideas to management is a big one.
00:24:42:05 - 00:24:45:08
I think interns have a lot of great ideas,
00:24:45:08 - 00:24:49:19
and I think what we've seen over the years as interns
00:24:49:21 - 00:24:52:22
are finding the balance of I'm trying to make an impact
00:24:52:22 - 00:24:56:06
and a name for myself and showing the great ideas I have.
00:24:56:08 - 00:24:59:18
But also I don't want to overstep and talk in meetings,
00:24:59:23 - 00:25:03:02
you know, that I was invited to to listen and learn
00:25:03:02 - 00:25:06:06
and like, where am I allowed to speak up and where am I not?
00:25:06:06 - 00:25:09:18
Or and whether they call it imposter syndrome, where you're like,
00:25:09:18 - 00:25:12:02
I don't know if my idea is good enough and am I really willing
00:25:12:02 - 00:25:13:24
to speak up in front of a whole group of people?
00:25:13:24 - 00:25:17:21
And so I think kind of helping balance and navigate some of that stuff
00:25:17:21 - 00:25:22:08
and helping build some of that confidence is huge for them.
00:25:22:14 - 00:25:27:01
We've seen an emphasis on problem solving project management.
00:25:27:01 - 00:25:29:20
Some of that
00:25:29:22 - 00:25:30:24
is really big too.
00:25:30:24 - 00:25:36:20
So I think all of the skills that you're developing in your employees and
00:25:36:22 - 00:25:40:22
your leaders, I think that really they're just trying to learn and grow.
00:25:40:24 - 00:25:45:21
So however you can help them in that way and really understand what they're good at
00:25:45:21 - 00:25:46:15
and what other skills
00:25:46:15 - 00:25:50:20
they need to continue to develop is just a conversation worth having.
00:25:50:20 - 00:25:53:04
And the ones that interns are really open to.
00:25:53:04 - 00:25:57:24
And they I mean, I think we see this in all shapes of business, of people.
00:25:57:24 - 00:26:01:01
People like to learn about themselves and talk about their experiences
00:26:01:01 - 00:26:05:19
and whatever you can do to help them learn and grow is a big piece of it.
00:26:05:21 - 00:26:07:05
Absolutely.
00:26:07:05 - 00:26:12:16
And for interns, I would always go back to that quote,
00:26:12:18 - 00:26:16:03
higher character train skill.
00:26:16:05 - 00:26:20:05
Just I don't know, I think it's a good reminder that
00:26:20:07 - 00:26:25:17
when you're hiring an intern, they might not have all of the skills that
00:26:25:19 - 00:26:28:12
you may want them to have at the end of the internship, or
00:26:28:12 - 00:26:34:18
they might not have all of the knowledge coming into it because it probably is
00:26:34:20 - 00:26:38:05
one of their first really
00:26:38:07 - 00:26:39:18
first jobs.
00:26:39:18 - 00:26:42:23
So I think that code, your character
00:26:43:00 - 00:26:47:04
train for Skill, is just always a good reminder too,
00:26:47:06 - 00:26:51:12
because you can train for skill and so like that.
00:26:51:14 - 00:26:54:14
So going on here, in what ways does
00:26:54:15 - 00:26:58:12
your organization support interns in building professional networks
00:26:58:12 - 00:27:03:15
and how does really networking contribute to development as emerging leaders?
00:27:03:17 - 00:27:05:12
Networking is huge.
00:27:05:12 - 00:27:05:24
Yeah.
00:27:05:24 - 00:27:07:11
I mean, I think there's a lot of ways
00:27:07:11 - 00:27:11:19
that organizations can support professional development for interns.
00:27:11:19 - 00:27:12:00
You know,
00:27:12:00 - 00:27:15:22
I think there is the traditional trainings in the classroom that can be done.
00:27:15:22 - 00:27:21:08
There's a lot of great modules online that companies can use, you know,
00:27:21:09 - 00:27:23:01
LinkedIn, Learning's, all of that great stuff.
00:27:23:01 - 00:27:24:16
Of course, memory has training as well.
00:27:24:16 - 00:27:28:14
But I also think, you know, when I look back
00:27:28:14 - 00:27:31:14
at my professional development and my growth over my career,
00:27:31:20 - 00:27:35:17
I think a lot of the most influential pieces that have helped me grow
00:27:35:19 - 00:27:40:06
are being part of organizational projects, working with cross-functional teams,
00:27:40:06 - 00:27:44:00
working with people that are different than myself and think differently.
00:27:44:00 - 00:27:47:20
And then eventually growing into leading some of those projects.
00:27:47:20 - 00:27:52:06
So what what projects can interns lead that maybe, maybe they
00:27:52:06 - 00:27:54:24
not on your to do list for a while and you just haven't gotten to it.
00:27:54:24 - 00:28:00:01
So any start with anything that they do is better than not doing it at all.
00:28:00:03 - 00:28:05:05
So I think some of that project work, job shadowing,
00:28:05:07 - 00:28:09:18
being able to just network and learn from other professionals is huge.
00:28:09:18 - 00:28:14:19
We offer an intern leadership program at Emory for our members
00:28:14:19 - 00:28:20:02
and we really focus on that professional development and networking because it
00:28:20:04 - 00:28:23:17
it really helps them learn from other people,
00:28:23:17 - 00:28:27:12
learn about different industries, learn about business as a whole, and learn
00:28:27:12 - 00:28:32:01
with other learn from other leaders around the entire country.
00:28:32:01 - 00:28:35:07
And just I think for the interns, some of their biggest takeaways
00:28:35:07 - 00:28:40:08
is just hearing the journey that leaders have gone on to get to where they are.
00:28:40:08 - 00:28:48:01
And I think by the end of the summer, they truly realized that most leadership,
00:28:48:03 - 00:28:50:17
I guess, journeys are not linear.
00:28:50:17 - 00:28:53:10
It's not it's not a ladder. You don't just go straight up.
00:28:53:10 - 00:28:56:10
But there's a lot of you know, I think it's so funny
00:28:56:10 - 00:28:59:10
when we do the CEO panels, it's like half of them
00:28:59:16 - 00:29:04:07
started in a completely different field or industry than where they got to today.
00:29:04:07 - 00:29:06:10
And I think that's really promising for interns.
00:29:06:10 - 00:29:09:10
And I think it just really helps them relate and see
00:29:09:15 - 00:29:11:24
almost inspire them as well.
00:29:11:24 - 00:29:14:24
Yeah, I think just going off the networking pieces,
00:29:15:03 - 00:29:17:02
when people network correctly,
00:29:17:02 - 00:29:20:22
they really get further in their career.
00:29:20:24 - 00:29:22:20
And again, it's that inspiration.
00:29:22:20 - 00:29:24:17
But then what are you doing to make that impression
00:29:24:17 - 00:29:29:24
after and connect with them and our burgeoning team earlier today?
00:29:29:24 - 00:29:34:00
And they always say they're like most people, after your first job,
00:29:34:00 - 00:29:35:24
you're going to get most of your jobs after that.
00:29:35:24 - 00:29:38:16
By who you know and who you've networked with.
00:29:38:16 - 00:29:39:24
And, you know,
00:29:39:24 - 00:29:43:05
we do stuff during our internship program to help them, you know,
00:29:43:05 - 00:29:46:17
just even build up their LinkedIn resume, their LinkedIn profile, I'm sorry.
00:29:46:20 - 00:29:50:13
And just so they can connect with people that they meet throughout the summer.
00:29:50:13 - 00:29:53:15
And, you know, and ten years from now, it might be like, my gosh.
00:29:53:15 - 00:29:58:11
So if you bowlers connect into this person, like, how can I reach out?
00:29:58:11 - 00:30:02:01
So it's just it's just crazy how how small of a world it is.
00:30:02:01 - 00:30:06:21
So I think the professional development and networking is huge for interns
00:30:06:21 - 00:30:10:14
and I think any audience that HR And the hiring managers
00:30:10:14 - 00:30:14:23
can do to help them with that is is super appreciated by the interns,
00:30:14:23 - 00:30:18:00
especially with the mentorship more
00:30:18:00 - 00:30:21:08
so than ever, especially in a hybrid world.
00:30:21:10 - 00:30:24:21
We hear from interns asking how do i find a mentor
00:30:24:23 - 00:30:29:13
that can help me grow and, you know, say my name in a room full of opportunities.
00:30:29:13 - 00:30:33:06
And I always love that quote about mentors, but that's not necessarily
00:30:33:06 - 00:30:34:09
always your manager.
00:30:34:09 - 00:30:38:05
And in such a short period of time, how do I get an actual mentor
00:30:38:05 - 00:30:40:16
that can see my skill set and help me grow in my career?
00:30:40:16 - 00:30:44:09
And I think just networking is a piece of it.
00:30:44:11 - 00:30:45:05
Absolutely.
00:30:45:05 - 00:30:49:04
And you talked about our MRA's intern leadership program
00:30:49:04 - 00:30:53:04
and being able to network with leaders and ceos.
00:30:53:04 - 00:30:57:09
HR Professionals and young professionals too.
00:30:57:11 - 00:31:00:16
But also coming from an intern perspective,
00:31:00:18 - 00:31:03:17
that program is so beneficial in the way
00:31:03:17 - 00:31:06:17
that you're also networking with
00:31:06:18 - 00:31:13:00
80 to over 100 other interns who are practically in the same boat as you.
00:31:13:00 - 00:31:18:06
So that just that's a whole other benefit that we could talk about
00:31:18:06 - 00:31:22:23
for an hour having 82
00:31:22:23 - 00:31:26:13
over 100 people that you can talk to every day,
00:31:26:13 - 00:31:31:16
kind of see what they're going through, ask them questions
00:31:31:18 - 00:31:32:18
and they can.
00:31:32:18 - 00:31:35:13
I know I'm so connected with interns
00:31:35:13 - 00:31:38:21
from a couple of years ago, and I don't know.
00:31:38:21 - 00:31:43:01
I've really appreciated that from the intern program.
00:31:43:03 - 00:31:43:21
Yeah, because
00:31:43:21 - 00:31:47:00
networking connections, even for my internships too.
00:31:47:00 - 00:31:52:04
It's yeah, I still talk to some of them, the friendships and future,
00:31:52:06 - 00:31:54:22
maybe even colleagues again, and networking connections.
00:31:54:22 - 00:32:00:03
Yeah, Well, and it's just interesting to see what they're up to because
00:32:00:05 - 00:32:03:13
you might have two completely different roles at different organizations.
00:32:03:13 - 00:32:05:19
But it's interesting to be like, Hey, what are you doing this week?
00:32:05:19 - 00:32:07:12
What are you working on this week?
00:32:07:12 - 00:32:09:00
that's cool. I'm working on that.
00:32:09:00 - 00:32:11:20
So you can kind of connect that way too, which is awesome.
00:32:11:20 - 00:32:14:02
Even just brand awareness from company to company.
00:32:14:02 - 00:32:16:21
Yeah, definitely.
00:32:16:21 - 00:32:19:13
And we talked a little bit about mentorships,
00:32:19:13 - 00:32:24:13
but is there any other mentor kind of pieces of advice that you want
00:32:24:13 - 00:32:31:00
to give in how that kind of ropes into the success of an internship program?
00:32:31:02 - 00:32:34:04
Yeah, I think just really highlighting
00:32:34:06 - 00:32:38:11
that mentorship, that question about how you can find a mentor
00:32:38:11 - 00:32:40:05
that's right for you and how to find a mentor
00:32:40:05 - 00:32:44:09
that's not your manager at your company during an internship came up so many times
00:32:44:09 - 00:32:45:05
last year.
00:32:45:05 - 00:32:50:24
So if you can go in to an internship program, say to the intern or interns,
00:32:51:01 - 00:32:53:23
we have a dedicated mentor to you.
00:32:53:23 - 00:32:55:23
I think that will be huge.
00:32:55:23 - 00:32:59:21
And I think even part of it again goes up with the manager,
00:32:59:23 - 00:33:03:03
you know, having the tools to be successful until you this intern,
00:33:03:09 - 00:33:04:18
I think same with the mentors.
00:33:04:18 - 00:33:06:12
If you can provide them with
00:33:06:12 - 00:33:10:10
maybe some training and some guidance and maybe even like a coaching certificate
00:33:10:10 - 00:33:14:20
or what their expectations are and how they can help interns.
00:33:14:20 - 00:33:16:06
I think
00:33:16:08 - 00:33:19:08
having that common
00:33:19:08 - 00:33:22:06
playing ground, I guess for mentors would be huge
00:33:22:06 - 00:33:24:23
and they can really help the interns be successful.
00:33:24:23 - 00:33:27:24
And I think that's just another really close networking connection
00:33:27:24 - 00:33:31:08
that the interns will walk away with throughout the summer.
00:33:31:08 - 00:33:36:15
So but I would also be strategic and you know who you choose as a mentor.
00:33:36:17 - 00:33:39:18
But we have seen some companies that have used some emerging leaders
00:33:39:18 - 00:33:43:12
and some young professionals that are looking to grow their leadership skills
00:33:43:14 - 00:33:46:10
who maybe aren't quite ready to be a supervisor or manager yet.
00:33:46:10 - 00:33:51:12
But this is a great way to kind of mentor and coach and grow your own skills.
00:33:51:12 - 00:33:55:24
So just think about that with your own emerging leaders within your organization
00:33:56:01 - 00:33:57:04
for sure.
00:33:57:04 - 00:34:00:12
Well, do you have any examples of talking
00:34:00:12 - 00:34:04:21
about more projects and more hands on work now?
00:34:04:23 - 00:34:07:13
any examples of projects or initiatives
00:34:07:13 - 00:34:11:10
that are designed to kind of challenge interns
00:34:11:10 - 00:34:15:05
or any of those like structured projects that you would recommend
00:34:15:07 - 00:34:20:01
giving to interns to let them showcase their leadership potential?
00:34:20:03 - 00:34:22:23
Yeah, I honestly, I'd have to look at a list
00:34:22:23 - 00:34:25:18
because I, I always every summer I'm like, Wow,
00:34:25:18 - 00:34:29:17
that is such a great search project for interns and
00:34:29:19 - 00:34:31:20
but I'll just share a couple off the top of my head.
00:34:31:20 - 00:34:36:23
I think directly from the HR Perspective, those that have had HR Interns
00:34:36:23 - 00:34:42:11
will do like exit interviews and they'll do
00:34:42:13 - 00:34:46:07
like they'll develop a whole structured program about an intern program.
00:34:46:07 - 00:34:49:17
They can even build out the mentorship program.
00:34:49:19 - 00:34:53:12
And just generally speaking, I think look at your own to do list
00:34:53:12 - 00:34:56:12
and see, like, what projects are like strategic initiatives.
00:34:56:15 - 00:34:59:12
Have you been thinking about a know your team needs to get to
00:34:59:12 - 00:35:02:13
that you really haven't had time for and let them run with it?
00:35:02:13 - 00:35:06:12
Like I said, it's if it's just sitting on your desk, it's not going anywhere.
00:35:06:12 - 00:35:09:22
So you at least have some momentum to keep it moving forward
00:35:09:22 - 00:35:14:14
and having someone bring fresh ideas and perspectives to it.
00:35:14:16 - 00:35:15:00
I saw
00:35:15:00 - 00:35:18:21
one company that knew they needed to implement
00:35:18:21 - 00:35:22:22
a strategy within their organization and there they were.
00:35:22:22 - 00:35:24:21
They had a smaller internship program.
00:35:24:21 - 00:35:26:15
I think they had four or five interns.
00:35:26:15 - 00:35:30:03
I don't recall off the top of my head, but they had that group of interns work
00:35:30:03 - 00:35:34:05
together to build a new strategy internally at their organization,
00:35:34:07 - 00:35:38:18
including which included obviously some research, but also understanding
00:35:38:18 - 00:35:42:03
like what an employee resource group looks like, how we get one started,
00:35:42:03 - 00:35:45:03
who is going to lead that, what is the communication look like?
00:35:45:05 - 00:35:48:23
And they built out a whole new program for their organization
00:35:49:00 - 00:35:52:01
and then they presented it to their executive team.
00:35:52:01 - 00:35:55:04
So all of their CEO and all their senior leadership
00:35:55:04 - 00:35:58:10
and they were able to go forward and start to implement this.
00:35:58:10 - 00:36:01:06
So just a huge
00:36:01:08 - 00:36:03:21
kudos to them for doing that and running with that.
00:36:03:21 - 00:36:05:06
That's not an easy task.
00:36:05:06 - 00:36:06:11
And obviously they had guidance
00:36:06:11 - 00:36:10:07
along the way, but I think that's a great project to show.
00:36:10:09 - 00:36:15:06
And then actually had there was one I'm picturing
00:36:15:06 - 00:36:19:06
that they documented all of their standard operating procedures
00:36:19:08 - 00:36:23:14
and then along the way they were asked to one, you have to document it,
00:36:23:14 - 00:36:27:09
but then to come back with recommendations for efficiencies in the process
00:36:27:09 - 00:36:32:10
and a lot of times even documenting it, that's really curious.
00:36:32:10 - 00:36:35:16
Wanting to learn interns is asking why, like why do we do it this way
00:36:35:16 - 00:36:39:11
and not in a negative way, but just like they were curious and then,
00:36:39:13 - 00:36:44:17
you know, if you as a manager or whoever is doing the teaching,
00:36:44:19 - 00:36:48:20
isn't able to answer that, why I think it's a good, you know, sign.
00:36:48:20 - 00:36:51:12
Maybe we need to look at our process and think of some other way.
00:36:51:12 - 00:36:54:02
And so I think even just being able to showcase
00:36:54:02 - 00:36:57:21
the efficiencies that have been put on because of someone just documenting
00:36:57:21 - 00:37:01:07
standard operating procedures is another really cool project.
00:37:01:07 - 00:37:03:02
So those are a few off the top of my head.
00:37:03:02 - 00:37:07:02
But again, I would take a look at your own task lesson and see
00:37:07:08 - 00:37:12:10
what what you're hoping to get done and let them run with it.
00:37:12:12 - 00:37:15:00
Yeah, and I think another
00:37:15:00 - 00:37:18:08
great big project or kind of stretch project
00:37:18:08 - 00:37:23:01
that any company can do at any internship too, would just be looking
00:37:23:01 - 00:37:26:06
at your own company from an audit perspective,
00:37:26:07 - 00:37:29:07
like auditing the website or doing an
00:37:29:07 - 00:37:32:13
in the analysis of the website or for example,
00:37:32:13 - 00:37:35:19
I know I did a competitive analysis when I was an intern,
00:37:35:19 - 00:37:40:02
which was a big project, but it was, I think, a great opportunity
00:37:40:02 - 00:37:44:12
and a good big project to work on throughout the summer too.
00:37:44:14 - 00:37:47:09
Also gave me a chance to work with some great leaders
00:37:47:09 - 00:37:51:13
and kind of show it off to our executive team to.
00:37:51:15 - 00:37:56:00
So yeah, I would, I would say that that's an easy project,
00:37:56:00 - 00:37:59:19
but it's something that all companies can do and something
00:37:59:19 - 00:38:05:07
that can improve your website, improve your organization as a whole.
00:38:05:09 - 00:38:07:02
So we talked
00:38:07:02 - 00:38:11:00
about kind of performance management a little bit, but
00:38:11:02 - 00:38:15:06
how do you what are some ways to assess the performance of interns
00:38:15:06 - 00:38:19:10
during and at the end of the program
00:38:19:12 - 00:38:23:01
and what mechanisms do you have in place for providing
00:38:23:01 - 00:38:27:09
that constructive feedback to help them grow?
00:38:27:11 - 00:38:29:20
Yeah, I think feedback is so important
00:38:29:20 - 00:38:33:13
and that's something that we really hear from interns of.
00:38:33:15 - 00:38:39:00
I think again, this goes to does your manager know how to manage interns?
00:38:39:00 - 00:38:43:14
But feedback is something we hear and managers typically are like, well,
00:38:43:19 - 00:38:45:21
if they're not hearing from me, they're doing a good job.
00:38:45:21 - 00:38:49:02
And we have weekly check ins and, you know, we just kind of talk
00:38:49:02 - 00:38:51:18
through their projects and any challenges they have.
00:38:51:18 - 00:38:57:06
But I think interns want to know honestly, daily and speak to this
00:38:57:06 - 00:39:00:04
from your own experience, what like are they on the right track?
00:39:00:04 - 00:39:03:20
Are they doing a good job, really doing a bad job and tell them right away?
00:39:03:20 - 00:39:05:05
I think,
00:39:05:07 - 00:39:07:19
you know, people don't want to hear this, but I would honestly
00:39:07:19 - 00:39:10:19
check in with your interns at least once a day, if not more than that.
00:39:10:24 - 00:39:14:13
I think, you know, a week, a lot of things happen in a week.
00:39:14:13 - 00:39:15:21
And especially,
00:39:15:21 - 00:39:19:11
you know, if you look at like a ten week internship program that's like ten times
00:39:19:11 - 00:39:20:11
you're meeting with your intern
00:39:20:11 - 00:39:22:13
and think about how much they're doing in a day,
00:39:22:13 - 00:39:24:13
how many people they're trying to interact with.
00:39:24:13 - 00:39:27:06
We hear interns are
00:39:27:06 - 00:39:29:22
not always, but sometimes they don't like to be bored.
00:39:29:22 - 00:39:35:03
So if you're only meeting with them once a week, how are they feeling?
00:39:35:03 - 00:39:36:23
40 hours of their work week?
00:39:36:23 - 00:39:41:24
Are they truly busy and gaining knowledge and skills?
00:39:41:24 - 00:39:47:05
Every all of the all of the week and having those great experiences. So
00:39:47:07 - 00:39:49:20
I know managers sometimes are like,
00:39:49:20 - 00:39:52:20
I don't want to tell them they're doing a good job for just doing their job,
00:39:53:01 - 00:39:55:14
but I think if they're not hearing anything,
00:39:55:14 - 00:39:57:22
they really just don't know where they stand.
00:39:57:22 - 00:40:00:18
So I recommend talking to them every day.
00:40:00:18 - 00:40:01:17
And I know.
00:40:01:17 - 00:40:05:21
So my favorite example from you was like, Well, give me something negative.
00:40:05:21 - 00:40:09:07
It's always so positive and it's like, Wow, you're doing a great job.
00:40:09:07 - 00:40:12:05
And it's like, there's got to be something I can improve on.
00:40:12:05 - 00:40:14:03
And you're not the only intern that has said that.
00:40:14:03 - 00:40:17:23
And I completely agree that even though you are doing
00:40:17:23 - 00:40:22:18
a great job, are there even skills that maybe like
00:40:22:20 - 00:40:25:18
that aren't being shown in this project, but maybe in other projects
00:40:25:18 - 00:40:26:15
that I could develop?
00:40:26:15 - 00:40:28:07
So I think being very specific
00:40:28:07 - 00:40:31:14
in that feedback and very intentional is very important.
00:40:31:16 - 00:40:32:10
Absolutely.
00:40:32:10 - 00:40:35:18
And to piggyback off that, I would say something
00:40:35:18 - 00:40:39:13
that I love that you did when I was an intern.
00:40:39:15 - 00:40:43:05
You mentioned interns don't like being bored and that's very true
00:40:43:05 - 00:40:45:15
because that can make or break an internship.
00:40:45:15 - 00:40:48:21
I think in what you did that really helped
00:40:48:21 - 00:40:53:07
was checking in each day, like how was your workload going?
00:40:53:07 - 00:40:55:02
Do you need some more projects?
00:40:55:02 - 00:40:57:03
Do you want to sit in on this meeting?
00:40:57:03 - 00:41:01:05
So it's like always giving me an opportunity to be doing something
00:41:01:05 - 00:41:02:19
new each and every day.
00:41:02:19 - 00:41:06:12
So I think, like you said, that communication with an intern
00:41:06:12 - 00:41:11:08
is vital for an internship program to really succeed
00:41:11:10 - 00:41:18:10
and to make sure that your intern is enjoying the work that they're doing
00:41:18:12 - 00:41:20:02
and that they have an opportunity to,
00:41:20:02 - 00:41:23:21
like, openly communicate, communicate that with their manager.
00:41:23:21 - 00:41:29:01
If they aren't filling their 40 hours a week or have finished a project
00:41:29:01 - 00:41:33:12
and don't know what to do after that, well, it also helps just reprioritize.
00:41:33:12 - 00:41:36:18
I think I chuckle and this is not the best way to do it,
00:41:36:24 - 00:41:38:21
but we gave you like five pages of projects
00:41:38:21 - 00:41:42:18
that we want you to work on throughout the summer and I don't.
00:41:42:20 - 00:41:45:21
And in the best way possible, I don't think I think you go through
00:41:45:21 - 00:41:48:21
one page or whatever, because so many other things came up
00:41:48:22 - 00:41:53:03
throughout the summer that it was kind of like if we came to you in the morning
00:41:53:03 - 00:41:56:20
and we were like, Hey, we have this cool project, and you were like,
00:41:56:22 - 00:41:58:09
but I'm working on X, Y and Z.
00:41:58:09 - 00:41:59:07
We could be like,
00:41:59:07 - 00:42:03:12
yeah, I finish, I X, don't worry about Y, and then Z can wait till next week.
00:42:03:14 - 00:42:04:22
But it was able to have us
00:42:04:22 - 00:42:09:03
give us a chance to really learn what you like if you new opportunities,
00:42:09:03 - 00:42:14:14
but also just to prioritize who you aren't just taking on things without
00:42:14:16 - 00:42:15:00
feeling
00:42:15:00 - 00:42:18:00
like you had the bandwidth to do it all and be successful.
00:42:20:02 - 00:42:22:20
That will just give you another project management skill.
00:42:22:20 - 00:42:24:12
All right, There you go.
00:42:24:12 - 00:42:29:19
But just as we wrap up your career, any any lasting thoughts
00:42:29:19 - 00:42:30:15
that you want to share?
00:42:30:15 - 00:42:33:10
Actually, I'm going to turn it back to you.
00:42:33:10 - 00:42:35:09
Just you know, you've been involved with the intern
00:42:35:09 - 00:42:39:03
leadership program for a couple of years and you obviously were an intern and.
00:42:39:03 - 00:42:42:21
You still talk with, you know, a couple of interns from previous years.
00:42:42:22 - 00:42:45:22
So just anything anytime to you is here to employers
00:42:45:22 - 00:42:53:02
or maybe even hiring managers about creating a great memorable experience?
00:42:53:04 - 00:42:58:15
I would just say the big takeaway, I think just from today to
00:42:58:16 - 00:43:01:16
is that an effective internship
00:43:01:20 - 00:43:05:09
benefits both the intern and the organization.
00:43:05:10 - 00:43:08:19
I think that's always something to just keep in the back of your head
00:43:08:19 - 00:43:12:11
that don't just have an intern to have an intern.
00:43:12:11 - 00:43:16:12
Like like bring us back to the first question there.
00:43:16:12 - 00:43:19:18
The planning process and the planning stage.
00:43:19:20 - 00:43:23:02
And of course, you can add on to this because you were part of that
00:43:23:02 - 00:43:23:24
planning stage.
00:43:23:24 - 00:43:27:07
But I think that is the most vital
00:43:27:09 - 00:43:32:22
step in an internship program is making sure
00:43:32:24 - 00:43:35:23
you kind of have your priorities and your goals
00:43:35:23 - 00:43:41:08
and just the value of having an intern that you have that confidently set.
00:43:41:10 - 00:43:44:24
Well, for an intern comes in and you're not trying to figure out
00:43:45:01 - 00:43:48:06
an intern role while they're there.
00:43:48:08 - 00:43:52:09
No, I think that's that is absolutely crucial.
00:43:52:09 - 00:43:55:09
And I think now that this is like the most important takeaway, but
00:43:55:09 - 00:43:58:15
something that hasn't been mentioned yet is really make sure
00:43:58:15 - 00:44:03:03
that the interns and all of the candidates that you're interviewing
00:44:03:05 - 00:44:08:01
feel like you matter and that you're part of the organization from the beginning.
00:44:08:01 - 00:44:11:24
And I think I just remember when we were interviewing candidates
00:44:11:24 - 00:44:13:13
from the beginning,
00:44:13:13 - 00:44:13:23
you know,
00:44:13:23 - 00:44:17:05
I think we always wanted to keep them in the loop of where they were
00:44:17:05 - 00:44:18:12
in the hiring process.
00:44:18:12 - 00:44:21:05
And I mean, I think we made a decision very quickly.
00:44:21:05 - 00:44:25:11
And as soon as we made a decision, we we let everybody know.
00:44:25:11 - 00:44:30:08
And, you know, I think even for those that we didn't end up hiring,
00:44:30:10 - 00:44:32:19
we still wanted to have a great relationship with them
00:44:32:19 - 00:44:35:07
because you never know with opportunities in the future.
00:44:35:07 - 00:44:37:20
And we didn't want them to feel like, it's just an intern.
00:44:37:20 - 00:44:39:09
We'll get back to them in a couple of weeks.
00:44:39:09 - 00:44:41:22
And I think the
00:44:41:24 - 00:44:44:04
for us, it was important that everyone knew
00:44:44:04 - 00:44:46:17
that this is a critical role in our organization
00:44:46:17 - 00:44:49:05
and they are going to make an impact and they're part of our team.
00:44:49:05 - 00:44:52:03
So not necessarily that they're just an intern.
00:44:52:03 - 00:44:56:01
And I think we tried to treat you like you were part of the team
00:44:56:05 - 00:44:59:04
throughout the entire summer and beyond, and obviously you're part of our team now.
00:44:59:04 - 00:45:01:23
So it all worked out definitely.
00:45:01:23 - 00:45:05:20
And that was actually another 2024 internship
00:45:05:22 - 00:45:08:22
trend that I read about was
00:45:09:00 - 00:45:12:21
the importance of meaningful work in an internship
00:45:12:21 - 00:45:16:12
and just ensuring that your interns
00:45:16:12 - 00:45:21:08
can connect to your organization and to the work that they're doing.
00:45:21:08 - 00:45:24:10
And it's not just you're doing work to do work.
00:45:24:10 - 00:45:29:19
It's like you, your interns need to care about your organization's
00:45:29:19 - 00:45:36:10
mission and values and their work's mission and values too. So
00:45:36:12 - 00:45:39:06
to get my drop moment there,
00:45:39:06 - 00:45:40:24
I love it all.
00:45:40:24 - 00:45:45:01
Courtney, thank you again for sharing your expertise with us today.
00:45:45:03 - 00:45:46:13
And to our listeners,
00:45:46:13 - 00:45:51:07
I would just encourage you to head to Emory net dot org to check out
00:45:51:09 - 00:45:55:17
our Emory can help you recruit retain as well
00:45:55:17 - 00:45:59:17
as enhance your internship programs if you have an existing one.
00:45:59:17 - 00:46:03:00
And then also feel free to reach out to Courtney
00:46:03:00 - 00:46:07:11
to choose our manager of our internship leadership program.
00:46:07:11 - 00:46:10:13
So we'll include her
00:46:10:13 - 00:46:13:22
email down below in her LinkedIn profile if you want to connect with her.
00:46:13:23 - 00:46:17:08
But otherwise, I appreciate the chat.
00:46:17:08 - 00:46:17:23
Courtney.
00:46:17:23 - 00:46:22:14
Thanks again to our listeners and we'll see you next week.
00:46:22:16 - 00:46:23:13
Thanks for having me.
00:46:23:13 - 00:46:26:04
And that wraps up our content for this episode.
00:46:26:04 - 00:46:27:22
Be sure to reference the show notes
00:46:27:22 - 00:46:30:23
where you can sign in to connect for more podcast updates,
00:46:30:24 - 00:46:34:17
check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform.
00:46:34:17 - 00:46:38:10
And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE
00:46:38:14 - 00:46:40:20
so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in
00:46:40:20 - 00:46:44:06
and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:44:01
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. All right, Well, hi, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. And today's podcast, we're going to be talking about career pathing. And I'm joined by Amanda Mosteller, who is MRA's director of talent development and organizational development. So we really have a true career expert with us today. So I welcome you back, Amanda. You always do such a great job.
00:00:44:01 - 00:01:12:21
Unknown
So I'm excited for this topic. Thanks for having me back and I love this topic as well. So, absolutely. And I know I talked a little bit about this before, but I know crew passing is not just for younger emerging leaders who have just started out in the workforce. It's really for everybody. So I guess kind of diving in then what is career path and exactly in why would you say it's important for an organization?
00:01:12:23 - 00:01:54:17
Unknown
Yeah. So career pathing is typically quite what you would think. It would sound like taking a role or a career from entry into the organization and mapping out the path within that career within your organization. Why it's important is because it gives people a roadmap to see where they can go. Whether I'm coming in new to my career, as you were mentioning, or just newer to the organization, I might be popping in mid-level, but just seeing what is the opportunity for me in this role, in this space, in this organization?
00:01:54:17 - 00:02:22:21
Unknown
What does that pathway look like? Is it mapped out? Is it defined? And can somebody walk me through it? Helps initially engage folks in not only their current space, but seeing the potential. I was just talking with my mother the other day about how I had 27 and a half years left before retirement. All right. Almost there. So close.
00:02:22:23 - 00:02:47:03
Unknown
And I said to her, gosh, 27 and a half years, that feels like a long time. And if I thought in our organization, those 27 and a half years are in this role I'm in right now and there's nowhere else to go, no other way to grow my skills or move eventually into other spaces and roles within the organization.
00:02:47:04 - 00:03:19:16
Unknown
That really becomes a defeating lot regardless of how much you love an organization. And I love being a part of me very much. But 27 and a half years in one role feels like a long time right? So that's why it's so important, that opportunity to look forward in your future and see evolution for yourself happening within an organization creates that that engagement and that increased retention and that connection to the company.
00:03:19:18 - 00:03:51:10
Unknown
Yeah, for sure. This is something I think Jim Morgan talks about in some of his talent reports. I feel like speaking speaking for like a younger generation employee, surely, like when you're getting a job, like you talk about your current role, but it's like the career path is just as important as like this job that you're getting. So, I don't know, just talking to friends, I know some of them are like, Hey, if they don't kind of map out where I'm going to be in the next couple of years, I'm not interested.
00:03:51:11 - 00:04:24:10
Unknown
So I know how important it is now. And I know you'll get to kind of like the evolution of it, how it's changed. But I just I've seen like a very big emphasis on career passing and making sure that employers talk about it right away in the interview process even. That's such a good point. In doing interviews in the past six months, I have noticed an increase in people asking me instead of my saying, Where do you see yourself in the next 3 to 5 years?
00:04:24:10 - 00:04:52:04
Unknown
That standard question and most people, if they're any type of practice to interview viewers, they are with your organization. But if I have them turning around asking me what's the growth opportunity for this type of role within your organization and to get to where you're mentioning where we'll go during our conversation today, questions changing around what's the growth opportunity in your department?
00:04:52:06 - 00:05:20:16
Unknown
That's not the question as much anymore as what's my growth opportunity in your organization? Meaning your company. So within the company you work for, not just your department. And that's that's telling that people are asking an interviewer is they're asking the hiring manager and they're changing their wording. And that's on purpose again, too. So then can you kind of talk about how career passing has evolved throughout the years?
00:05:20:18 - 00:05:51:21
Unknown
And then why is that evolution really crucial for both employers and employees? Well, get to it like now. So. So traditionally, a career path. As an example for a sales professional, you come into an organization and you might be working foot in the door. Well, at lead generation and lead uncovering and then handing those leads off to a salesperson.
00:05:52:02 - 00:06:14:09
Unknown
And that salesperson might have sales engineers come in depending on what they're selling. Eventually you become a sales manager. There might be an account executive in there where the size of territory or the size of client gets bigger and bigger. So you're getting bigger deals, eventually become a sales manager, then you become the sales director, then you become the sales VP, right?
00:06:14:14 - 00:06:56:06
Unknown
Very linear career path and that is a defined career path. All within one type of job, role building on one another. That's the traditional career path. How it has evolved is people no longer think of a career path as a linear within this same type of job role. I mentioned that question changing the wording of the question changing, and that's because people are starting to say what skills and abilities can your organization provide me for myself that I can apply as I grow in my career?
00:06:56:08 - 00:07:25:06
Unknown
People we know individuals coming to an organization and staying for 15, 20, 30 years is less and less common. Regardless of how amazing your culture is, regardless of how engaging and supportive and development focused your organization might be. And that's because if I'm sitting and waiting to become that leader or that manager or that next role, that means I'm waiting for somebody else to choose to leave in.
00:07:25:06 - 00:07:55:20
Unknown
That can take a very long time, especially the higher up in an organization you go. So people are looking more for what knowledge, skills and abilities can you give me? Not necessarily just in one space, but cross-functionally in your organization? What that means is, as people are asking that question and that question is changing, instead of what is the growth opportunity in your department to what is the growth opportunity in your organization?
00:07:55:22 - 00:08:40:16
Unknown
I might come in the door as a sales individual and skills that I'm looking for around maintaining multiple projects, time management skills, influencing for others, maybe owning a big opportunity within my organization and getting buy in across all groups. Those are all skills that can translate to any job role. So what I might find as I come in as a lead generation expert in a sales space and within two years I'm moving over to the marketing department because I'm starting to hone what does the buyer look for and how do I communicate that to the buyer effectively?
00:08:40:16 - 00:09:06:18
Unknown
And marketing does a lot of that stuff also. So as I'm honing those skills, an opportunity in marketing is opened up and I might look over there to start building that skill. Now I have uncovering needs and I have really translating to what the buyer is looking for through my marketing expertise and then an opportunity in our bigger project management group opens up some of the skills I've been looking for.
00:09:06:18 - 00:09:49:11
Unknown
If I want to become a leader someday does include managing multiple irons in the fire. I need to be able to do that. So I'll move over to that role because now I'm continuing to develop these knowledge, skills and abilities that eventually will get me into leadership positions. Now look at all these different spaces. I've been within one company, so when we talk about creating this modern evolved way of looking at career pathing, talk about engagement and retention, people aren't waiting till the next account executive leaves so that an account manager can become an account executive so that a lead generator could become an account manager.
00:09:49:13 - 00:10:18:18
Unknown
You're doing a lot of waiting. That's what you're relying on your organization to do. And so looking at this evolution of career passing instead on where do you want to be in five years? Where do you want to be in ten years? Do you want to move into leadership? What types of skills do you want to grow in an eye as your organization can help identify opportunities for you that leverage those skills and will develop those skills in you?
00:10:18:20 - 00:10:49:14
Unknown
You've created a different kind of career path that will really build your bench. I mean, now you have folks really learning all these different areas of your business, creating lots of effective, impactful needed skills as they move up and a well-rounded employee base, of course, THRIVEs a really effective and impactful organization. So what is modern day career path thing?
00:10:49:15 - 00:11:22:04
Unknown
What is it evolve to? Not linear is what you really spiderweb it in a way. And yeah, focusing on transferable skills. Why is it crucial? For the same reasons. Everything else that we talk about in terms of development and culture and building your bench and growth is crucial. It's it's engagement for your employees, which creates high, effective, high, impactful workforces to THRIVE your business's success.
00:11:22:06 - 00:11:47:17
Unknown
Yeah, that's a great point. And I feel like they've even started started the whole career passing thing, even on like when you're an intern, I know some intern programs. It's now not just focused on the type of internship you have. Maybe you're marketing intern, but they're putting you through all different departments so that you can start to see what the organization is as a whole.
00:11:47:17 - 00:12:21:06
Unknown
And then you're also gaining skills from each of those departments. But your focus is a marketing term, but later on, maybe when you're applying for jobs, that's when you can apply what you've learned in the other departments. Kind of like what you said, the universal, universal transferable skills. So that leads me to another question on can you give any examples of how individuals can really assess those skills and interests and even identify them?
00:12:21:06 - 00:12:44:20
Unknown
How do they know that? Yeah, So first it takes some self-reflection when you get asked that question of where do you want to be in five years, you better know the answer. Where do you want to be? If the answer is not a people leader, that's important to know because that's a different set of skills that we could develop in somebody that you might not be interested in.
00:12:44:22 - 00:13:14:16
Unknown
If it is becoming just the best of the best and in your space, then let's identify what the best of the best looks like when we talk about how can you identify it, how do you know what to work on? There are I think it's a common misnomer that a 360 tool is something that only a leader in a high level leader should go through.
00:13:14:18 - 00:13:40:18
Unknown
Three sixteens or just one eighties even, but are excellent sources of identifying your hidden strengths, your blind spots and things like that. And then identifying does that apply in the job? Well, I want the job well, I have. I might have a blind spot in an area that I don't need to use right now anyway. And so I'm not going to focus my energy on developing it.
00:13:40:20 - 00:14:09:20
Unknown
But to that question of where am I trying to go with my career, I might need it when I try to get to that level. So what do I start developing now? So knowing the answer to the question is number one, knowing that there are tools out there that give you a well-rounded view of just universal competencies. Two, they don't have to be related to a certain type of leadership.
00:14:09:20 - 00:14:42:13
Unknown
There are tools out three, six tools out there that that we utilize that could apply just just to an individual. Then the third one is start looking around at your organization, at what roles pique your interest, have conversations with your manager and with your peers around. What about those roles? Pique your interest so that you can start to get a view of what types of skills and activities are enticing to you and engaging to you that you want to learn how to try out.
00:14:42:15 - 00:15:09:03
Unknown
So what? What levels and a career do I want to achieve? That's an answer you have to figure out for yourself. It might take some self-reflection and chatting with folks within your organization to see whether that's something of interest, chatting with your folks in your network outside of your current organization to see if that's something of interest. Using some tools that aren't just self reflection.
00:15:09:03 - 00:15:30:10
Unknown
Because I love to THRIVE self awareness. Very few of us are just fully self aware in all of our strengths and the way we get self-awareness is by having somebody else give us some feedback. So looking at some tools that are out there for that and then starting to chat about what job roles are interesting to you and why do shadowing.
00:15:30:12 - 00:15:56:24
Unknown
Go spend a day watching that job role to see if it is interesting it c It might sound cool. We can create some really cool job titles. That doesn't mean the role is as exciting as someone might think. So figuring out what's going on in your organization role wise, asking for opportunities to shadow, and then sitting down with with your manager to say, Here's what really did interest me about that role.
00:15:56:24 - 00:16:21:04
Unknown
And then that can create we can you can start to get an idea of what types of jobs interest you and therefore what skills might be transferable to those jobs within your organization or any organization. And to your point, sometimes it's hard to identify your own skills and maybe you only have a couple that you write down or couple that you're definitely self aware of.
00:16:21:06 - 00:16:41:13
Unknown
But or it's like personally help me as to like just taking a step back and asking maybe it's your manager or just a peer at work. Like in some their opinion. I know I've done that before and they're like, Well, you know, you did this project and I think you did a really good job on these things during that project.
00:16:41:13 - 00:17:01:02
Unknown
Maybe you should start looking at that. So I think just trying to be outside sometimes and getting their perspective helps too, when you're doing some of that stuff. Yeah, it has to be somebody that you would define as like. And I talk to folks about this a lot and I say, Don't let the phrasing throw you off, but a safe person.
00:17:01:02 - 00:17:22:01
Unknown
And what I mean by that is somebody that I think I've talked about this before, but somebody that you're open to their feedback, they will be honest with you, not in a hurtful way. So they're safe from that perspective. They'll be honest with you, but they're also somebody that you value and trust their opinion so you'll be less resistant if you hear something you don't like.
00:17:22:03 - 00:17:43:05
Unknown
So who are those people that you could ask how that project went and you'd be open to hearing if they didn't basically just sing your praises and tell you how amazing you are, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, kind of moving on here. We've talked about this on the podcast, but we also hear it a lot about work life balance.
00:17:43:09 - 00:18:14:01
Unknown
So I'm kind of thinking about that. What advice do you have for individuals who are trying to balance their personal life and their professional goals while they're planning their career path? You know, I've I've mentioned up until now about competencies and what are the elements of that role you like and what are things that they're doing. But there are also, depending on where you want your career to go, education requirements, certification requirements.
00:18:14:01 - 00:18:44:18
Unknown
I mean, if you want to be the best of the best and managing large projects, you probably want to go get your PMP certifications. So what does that look like? So connect your HR Department and and i know we're in HR Organization. And so, of course, amanda's going to say go talk to HR But for real, your HR department as all of these, you know, job descriptions which which they can look at trending lee And they also know, you know, trending.
00:18:44:18 - 00:19:15:16
Unknown
Lee Okay, you're talking about being a people leader one day. Most of the time, people leaders tend to require a certain level of education requirement, not always, but most of the time they'll certainly know in their own organization what's required to see whether you have that. Are there certain certifications that are required? Because if if that's an opportunity for you that you want to this balance, they'll also know what resources are out there to help you start going down that path and how much is too much right away.
00:19:15:18 - 00:19:48:16
Unknown
So we have team members that move into the learning and development space. And if you want to be the best of the best in certain things, there are certifications we would encourage you to get. Some of them are quick and easy to do certificates. Some of them are larger, you know, six month to a year and several tests certifications depending on your goals and your aspirations for your career, we might say you should go the certification route.
00:19:48:18 - 00:20:24:10
Unknown
It takes a bit longer. Here are several different ways to do that, and we can talk through what makes the most sense and when starting makes the most sense for somebody. So the balance becomes what things outside of shadowing in my organization and talking to mentors and doing some development within my daily work hours, what else is out there and what else might I need to invest my time and energy into to get to the level of what I'm aspiring to get to?
00:20:24:12 - 00:21:00:24
Unknown
This to the same word Moore claims in one sentence. But because some of the stuff you just can't do it work, there's just going to be some things that that would be more impactful. A pimp certification, for example, whether you want to be a project manager or not, that teaches you a lot of great organizational and executional structure and how to keep people and a large group on track and how to communicate effectively and what metrics you can utilize to not only measure success but identify budgets.
00:21:00:24 - 00:21:21:17
Unknown
And there's a lot of things that would be transferable to other roles that that certification would teach you. And then going and trying it at an organization. But you can't get that through many of your own internal companies. You have to go somewhere to prep for that and take the test. So there's going to be outside work put into it.
00:21:21:17 - 00:22:18:15
Unknown
So it's talk with your HR Department. They know those kinds of things. They have that knowledge. Yeah, absolutely. What we're talking about building your career path. How can individuals really align their personal values with their career choices? And why is that alignment really important for long term satisfaction? This is where i always encourage folks, excuse me, to really lean on their network, whether it is an internal network or their network outside of their organization, because values of time, values of family, values of excitement in travel, the values around what you just are comfortable and not comfortable doing, whether you will ever be the person that does that or not.
00:22:18:17 - 00:22:46:21
Unknown
Those are things that you really need to understand. Does this industry require that? Does this level of career growth require that? There was for myself, for example, there was a long time where I had a vision of sea level at a high international company that was my I will be that someday I will be a chief learning officer.
00:22:46:23 - 00:23:15:21
Unknown
I was very adamant that was going to be the end. That's my where I'm trying to get to. And then things in my life changed and I continue to evolve and I said as I started to connect with mentors in the space and those that are at that level, it's a very exciting level. But I started to say, Gosh, you're you're, you're always on an international level that includes travel.
00:23:15:24 - 00:23:34:00
Unknown
Do I really want to travel? I got to work at an international company and started to recognize I want to be home at my values. You know, I want to be at home at night to help my kids do their schoolwork. I want that on my own. No one's telling me to do that. It's just something I want.
00:23:34:02 - 00:24:03:21
Unknown
And so it really it really made me pause and think. So I think before you start to go down the path of investing your time and your energy and your plans and your excitement into something, really understand the whole of what that role looks like to see if it's what you want and also continue to reassess what I wanted at 25 and what I want now.
00:24:03:23 - 00:24:29:07
Unknown
My birthday is tomorrow. So what I want as I turn a milestone birthday tomorrow are vastly different. And I think that's something we need to remember too, in this whole conversation is it is okay for your career path to change? Yeah, that's a great point. That's you need to. I thought that in the show notes, it's okay. That is change.
00:24:29:09 - 00:24:48:23
Unknown
So I feel like a lot of people want things kind of set in stone. Like, like you said, like I want to be here and that's where I'm going. But it is okay if it's if things change. So I told my husband we were having one of those big, you know, rarely in our lives conversations that we one tends to have.
00:24:48:23 - 00:25:21:12
Unknown
And I said, gosh, if we could pull it off, I would totally be happy to just, you know, retire and well, who wouldn't be happy to in the next five years? So, you know, he'd always gone on this. You want to be a C-suite. I mean, we talked about this for a very long time. So my move to say, I think I just like to write, I think I would be very happy, you know, stepping back and writing and just write books and write articles and just do that.
00:25:21:14 - 00:25:41:05
Unknown
And he was like, okay, well, I don't think one a different one doesn't just do that. Five years ago, I invested some time. I thought, maybe I want to be there, see, like I don't want to be a C-suite leader in a giant international company. I've learned I don't want that. That didn't align with my values. I want to run my own business.
00:25:41:10 - 00:26:08:02
Unknown
That's what I want to do. So I went through the process to get my LLC and I went and got individually certified in several things so that I was a certified seller of those things to THRIVE my business. And then I started building my network of of others in this space with their own LLC. And for some reason in my head, I'd be less busy if I ran my own business.
00:26:08:02 - 00:26:34:10
Unknown
I'm not sure what I was thinking. Newsflash, everyone, you're not less busy. You're having. It's fun. So. So then I thought, Well, I'm home with my kids, so I'm not traveling internationally, but I'm working at night and in the morning and on weekends and always. And I was like, That doesn't really align with my values either. So it's okay to to have your career path change up.
00:26:34:12 - 00:27:09:07
Unknown
And I think the big value to an organization is recognizing people do that too. They can invest your time in somebody that, you know, came in and they were really excited and then they all of a sudden sit down with you ten years later. And they're like, So I've been thinking for a while, wrapping up here today. I know we've given a lot of great practical, practical steps, but do you have any last steps or pieces of advice that employees and employers can really take to create their own personalized career path and plan?
00:27:09:09 - 00:27:42:16
Unknown
And if you have any resources that you kind of want to draw up here today, I think that would be a good ending to that. So, yeah, so a great step for organizations is to create that kind of open door conversation process where employees can come and chat with HR About what are job roles and what are kind of some universal expectations at different levels within the organization or different job roles.
00:27:42:16 - 00:28:24:08
Unknown
Are there certain certifications that i'm completely unaware of and and for the organization to have an understanding of resources you can connect team members to. It's excellent to have tuition reimbursement, it's excellent to have certification. You know, spotlight staffs or bonuses if you go get the certification or will pay you back for it. But to also have that resource bank of where people can go to get those certifications and especially, you know, price preferred means for you as an organization, build that resource bank so that when folks do ask their managers or do come to your company's HR
00:28:24:08 - 00:28:51:15
Unknown
Department, you have an answer for them from an individual perspective, it is one of the answer to that question. So do some self-reflection and prepare that kind of stuff, but also take some stock. And it doesn't have to be a full 360 assessment tool or anything. But to the resources, what what would I consider my strengths to be?
00:28:51:15 - 00:29:12:19
Unknown
Look at the job description you applied for. What about it made you apply for it? If you can look back at different roles, you've had within your career, what are those skills you've built up over time? Create your own skill bank so that you can reflect back on that skill bank and say, Here's all the things I've learned, here's what I have, here's how I know I'm strong in it.
00:29:12:21 - 00:29:53:05
Unknown
What gaps am I seeing? Because only you know your career better than anybody else. So when you know what things you've done better than anybody else. So really take your own self-assessment, make your own list of what you've created and what your strengths are, so that when you go have that conversation, folks can try to help you say, this type of job role utilizes that this type of job or utilizes that to help you get a sense for those things, you can go to it from a resource perspective, depending on the industry space that you do think you want your career to grow in.
00:29:53:05 - 00:30:20:10
Unknown
Again, it might not be a specific job role, but it might be an industry specific. There can be lots of industry competency models out there that you can do your own. Do I think I need to grow? I'm I'm strong in this or have mastered it. ATD has one for learning and development professionals. They have one for sales professionals.
00:30:20:12 - 00:30:59:04
Unknown
Sherm has them for HR Professionals and hrc has them for HR Professionals. P i don't even know who does the vp the project manager certifications, but it really depends on industry space, where or what assessment tools are out there to find out where you are within that space. But there's tons of them out there. Just give it a google and you will find find lots of resource is depending on what industry peaks your interest and why.
00:30:59:06 - 00:31:23:23
Unknown
Yeah, for sure you can put some resources that we use in the show notes below as well. But that was, that was great advice. And with Amanda and I think everyone, whomever where they are in their career can relate to this somehow, which is, which is really great. So thank you for coming on today and being today's guest and really sharing your expertise in this area.
00:31:24:00 - 00:31:45:09
Unknown
I always love your examples and the tools that you share to our listeners. If you liked our chat and topic today, don't forget to share our episode and consider joining MRA. If you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below, including resources on this topic. Career paths and the course.
00:31:45:09 - 00:32:06:24
Unknown
We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to chime in and share any great success stories that you've had of your own career path or career path planning otherwise. Thank you so much again for tuning in today and we will see you all next week. That wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect.
00:32:06:24 - 00:32:22:07
Unknown
For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:48:24
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. We're we're really hearing more about mindful workplaces nowadays. We thought we would take today's podcast, really think about this topic more in-depth. So i'm here with Laura Ruby senior HR Business partner and HR Business advisor for mra. We're really going to talk about why mindful workplaces are trending or what you really need to be aware of.
00:00:49:05 - 00:01:11:19
Unknown
What are some of the challenges that come along with it in more so or thanks so much for joining us today. I really, really appreciate it. Well thank you. So I'm really pleased to be here. This is definitely a timely concept, I think, for a number of employees to consider or employers to consider. Yeah, absolutely. And I know we were talking about that.
00:01:11:21 - 00:02:02:12
Unknown
You're very passionate about this topic and you've been working in the HR for such a long time that this is kind of the perfect topic to go over today. So I think we should kind of start out with what is a mindful workplace. Can you define it? Yes, so mindful workplace is really a combination of factors as we look at new initiatives that people are working towards in that space is really developing an awareness of an individual's thought processes, their emotions and their actions, and helping to enable them to laser focus on those and remove obstacles to productivity and really improving the work workplace from a variety of different aspects.
00:02:02:14 - 00:02:50:21
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. And you guys in part two to that question. Can you describe what that whole concept of the mindful workplace really encompasses? It's actually quite broad in as well. In talk today we'll touch on all of those components but it's it's combining more Eastern philosophies about issues of meditation or focus and concentration, breathing, as well as branching into mental health aspects that are damaging workplaces right now and helping individuals to deal with their own anxiety, stress, as well as other things like other issues they may be experiencing.
00:02:50:21 - 00:03:20:21
Unknown
And in relationships, finances, you know, you name it. So it's a very good I'm going to discuss how the company can actually sort of work with developing a healthier source. And actually, I feel like it's definitely transformed throughout the years or in my opinion, I feel like employers didn't really talk about this kind of stuff as much as they do now.
00:03:20:22 - 00:03:48:15
Unknown
They didn't care as much about, you know, providing all these resources and mental health resources and wellness resources to employees. So I think it's great we can kind of cover that and talk about it and just the process and how it's evolved over the years, too. So my next question then would be, do you have any practices that a mindful workplace can kind of what can you implement?
00:03:48:15 - 00:04:35:23
Unknown
What practices can you implement to create a mindful workplace? I mean, it's all over the map, but I think that really companies that are finding great success with implementing mindfulness, they're starting more starting small programs available to employees, maybe with classes or chair yoga, breathing exercises and some of those smaller components into helping the individual so as to what they're thinking and to continue to say that laser focus on what's in front of them rather than all these other things that may be coming from local personal life or other anxieties.
00:04:36:00 - 00:05:16:00
Unknown
So really, it's starting small forces or activities designed to encourage that, as well as programs designed to work to tell physical and mental health things like walking programs or competitions within companies where people compete on a physical level to the mental health aspects and making sure that insurance programs feel great. And it's available to employees, including people who are in search of more provided.
00:05:16:00 - 00:05:48:07
Unknown
So it's a very broad spectrum. Some of the larger companies are also includes things like meditation rooms or Zen areas or places where it's cool to take a break there and get reflective. And there are things that people want to address. Yeah, those are all great examples, Laura And I'm thinking about Emirates specifically, some of the cool things we do with our wellness.
00:05:48:09 - 00:06:10:01
Unknown
Something I love in the summer, we'll kind of get a group of employees together and walk around. We have some trails around here and the walk show location and that's just great to kind of take like a mental health break, take a walk kind of reboot almost. And we also have a masseuse come once in a while, which is awesome.
00:06:10:03 - 00:06:48:06
Unknown
That's a plus. So, yeah, a lot of great examples of what organizations can do well. And I know are you talked about starting small. You don't have to implement this huge idea right away. But what's what other steps can be taken to create a culture that values and supports this mindfulness? Well, that's a really good question. You know, a lot of research out there is built in on more so management assertiveness and exhibiting these behaviors and then having that trickle down effect within the organizations.
00:06:48:06 - 00:07:42:15
Unknown
So many companies will start to train their managers on the basic concepts and helping them to modify their behaviors to help other people. And so along with this process, because a lot of them view that managers are kind of the key to their success in the organization. And if you have a manager that's been, you know, like micromanaging to use the term or, you know, laser focus on what people are doing right then, and that can really put a bad tone in the organization as employees, more stress and so more specific, the focus is really to train the managers first and then implement some of these programs for the interviews to help encourage them to
00:07:42:15 - 00:08:14:02
Unknown
take that step back and begin to give themselves some additional brave souls. Feel throughout the day. And so a lot of the programs that were designed or have some training programs in the beginning where they'll people there are a number of number of mental health app type applications or mindfulness applications that people install on their desktop or their cell.
00:08:14:04 - 00:08:44:04
Unknown
So they encourage that as well as integrating a lot of training, maybe even utilize you to come in and talk about more stressful things that might be pressing individuals who trying to work with children and then someone is engaged with adult care for them, trying to manage those needs. It's on both ends of the spectrum to put that stuff aside and let yourself levels.
00:08:44:06 - 00:09:22:10
Unknown
Absolutely. And I know we talked about this a little bit in the beginning, but what about the physical workspace being designed to encourage this mindfulness and others quiet areas, massage room, but any other examples that you can give the physical workspace, specifically? And I think this one is really important and I find myself doing this every at least once a week, just decluttering your office and taking that time to organize it so that things are not visually distracting you.
00:09:22:12 - 00:10:03:08
Unknown
You have easy access to them. For example, I support simple members as well as working on the front line. So I basically moved all of my materials out of the visual area. So a couple of computers set up on my desktop and I tried very diligently to only have one computer on the time, but decluttering, moving things where they're easy to get to, but not in the visual space and using common colors, things like to look at, you know, I have a number of pictures in here with my grandchildren and they're kind of between the screen here.
00:10:03:08 - 00:10:32:01
Unknown
But, you know, you can use the same concept in your own workspace, even a cubicle or, you know, things just to create that environment. So the grid, as we mentioned, setting up spaces where things can get a little comfortable. Both of these have been stored on a break room. They have like couches and easy chairs for people to sit in versus just the table and a more sterile environment.
00:10:32:03 - 00:11:01:08
Unknown
And as you mentioned, like having a Zen room or meditation or just a space that people can go into. But so yeah, I love those. Yeah. And I would add to for the Quiet Areas piece at MRA, we have focus rooms and those are something I definitely take advantage of on a day to day basis. And they're just quiet rooms.
00:11:01:08 - 00:11:24:01
Unknown
You can go to solo rooms, kind of gets rid of all the distraction and allows you just kind of focus on your own work. So that's something that I really love about our physical workspace, but also the natural light to think having windows is so important and letting the sun come in or is snow light I guess right now.
00:11:24:03 - 00:11:57:10
Unknown
Right, Right. But yeah, even in the offices there in Wisconsin, the turkeys come up near the windows. And so you kind of get this natural breaks throughout the day, taking a step back to nature and kind of disengage from work stress. So stressful opportunities just get into a different. definitely. Definitely. Well, now that we've kind of talked about all the logistics of it, what impact does it really have on employees and business success, too?
00:11:57:12 - 00:12:31:17
Unknown
Well, it's not staggering when you talk about the mental health aspect of this. There was a recent study done that nearly half of the employees that were surveyed, I believe this is survey of people they had mentioned almost half the time that their mental stress or issues that they had got into the workplace and in fact they it to so, you know, this is a pretty serious area when you have our high pressure environments.
00:12:31:17 - 00:13:11:14
Unknown
We have technology that is helping us to be more efficient. That can sometimes be a distraction as well, where those types of things can certainly effect productivity at work. You also see where employee absenteeism increases when they have to deal with stress or dealing with lots of issues. But now you have employee satisfaction and engagement, which is a huge factor in this as well, is highly impacted by developing those mindfulness practices there.
00:13:11:14 - 00:13:54:19
Unknown
As the workforce becomes more engaged to it, we'll see other things like reduced toxicity as a higher productivity and just a number of other things within the organization, especially the team will sort of go into these like best companies to work or those organizations or you see continue to be up there addressing these issues regularly. You absolutely. I think it's also helpful to give some examples of wellness programs so that companies can start thinking about some ideas for themselves.
00:13:54:19 - 00:14:35:19
Unknown
So what wellness programs are in place to support employees mental and emotional well-being? For example, there are a couple of other offenders that are out there that have websites within engagement, and they can provide things from training to other directed things for the organization. A lot of companies can work with their community against some training or some other activities to help themselves establish these programs and really it's initiatives that a company needs to undertake and puts in it.
00:14:35:21 - 00:15:10:09
Unknown
So they know the company is saying, we recognize that we need to improve mental health so they can begin to throw out some of those initiatives. So again, focusing on the key points that they want to bring into focus group and being mindful as well as the challenge that there's something one of the other things we've seen a lot of conference engaging in is really looking at the effectiveness of our job is goals.
00:15:10:11 - 00:15:51:00
Unknown
So we may have a job description, but it could be that the person fails to do so. Do set the tone. So we structured those positions to be acceptable, normal. And again, we're working with some of those wellness providers to implement some of those programs and really give them a start of influence to start us with. They've already given hope to or different types of services into the organization, or they can project because they've worked with some of these programs as well.
00:15:51:02 - 00:16:22:15
Unknown
And then I think the next step we see HRC developmental University for tax and spend is outward to see what services they can provide in that space, because again, it's going to be a balancing act of financial commitment. So the company will do little space to implement some of these ideas again and again. The other important aspect to serving themselves to actually find out what it is that they would do, just sitting, just sitting.
00:16:22:16 - 00:16:47:09
Unknown
And I think that's another survey back to said, you know, companies go where, you know, about 60% of companies to be doing a great job if you ask their employees and they're like, no, I'm not participating. I'm not really seeing some interest to me. So we're going to get their feedback soon. So let's do the work for you as an individual.
00:16:47:11 - 00:17:18:04
Unknown
And then using that David style, allow it to influence the audience. Yeah, that's a great point to bring up. Absolutely. You talked about that stat with how mental health impacts productivity. So wondering if you're kind of seeing anything else here with our mental health really impacts productivity at work. It's well, if you look at company, it's going to be a little bit different.
00:17:18:06 - 00:17:51:05
Unknown
But I think if you were thinking about mental health, there are a number of programs designed to work the same as you're providing additional counseling services, maybe through your income, more services available to employees, and then financial wellness and helping them to work with their retirement programs into the future. Now let's look and see what we can set up to really help support financial unexpected financial things.
00:17:51:05 - 00:18:21:16
Unknown
So with individuals who are gearing those programs to help minimize anxiety or stress or know that concept or those day to day activities or childcare is another area where, again, you know, it's a huge worry for people watching as to how they're going to provide support to have the right resources available to them, what happens with their child.
00:18:21:16 - 00:18:45:06
Unknown
So how they deal with that. So a lot of those focuses to help minimize stress for people and allow them to step away from that. And the other great focus and I think going off of that work life balance talk, when you're talking about care, spending time, that's where the work life balance kind of also comes into play here.
00:18:45:06 - 00:19:14:20
Unknown
So we actually had a whole podcast alone on work life balance. So it's definitely important and something you know, everyone wants. So do you have any suggestions for employers how they can help balance work life, work life balance for their employees? Yeah, I think there's a number of things that a company can do. One, they talked battles for reevaluating the jobs being done.
00:19:14:22 - 00:19:47:20
Unknown
Are they being done effectively because a lot of work stress comes from that. That very aspect that my job is, is to do an area where I don't have the right tools to get the job done or there may be other efficiencies. So you do not want to remove that stress, but it seems like very flexible hours so people can stylize hours so they're the best person, that sort of thing to do to get kids to school and pick them up in the day they can.
00:19:47:22 - 00:20:24:07
Unknown
A special hybrid workplace is also really powerful in addressing that. So identifying when you want to stack all that work around you do work from home. It's that's with a manufacturing environment. It might be implementing, you know, five minute breaks in manufacturing or some other ways to stagger breaks so that people can stop working a little more frequently throughout the day versus just confining that small your ten or 15 minute period.
00:20:24:09 - 00:20:54:02
Unknown
So there's a lot of things that something you can evaluate that would work in day and again, contribute to some of that work life balance. You know, and it just shows. I think that's the final thing. You know, companies can use. They're buying talent. So speed is providing it for brands or a health care child. You know, some of these are very aspects of THRIVE.
00:20:54:04 - 00:21:32:10
Unknown
I know several companies I work with nowadays. And how do they bring you directly into work and they take it up and have it done for you. And so, you know, and utilizing tools like, you know, ordering your groceries online from the microwave. So there's a person that you can co-champions. Lots of people do. Yeah. Why don't we try to This is how we work for you to help in that flexibility that we're trying to develop in.
00:21:32:13 - 00:22:04:11
Unknown
Well, yeah. What's going to make their life easier, right? Yes. I'd like to draw on my laundry and have somebody to get done. Something I read about when I was kind of restructuring for this topic today was Holistic well-being initiative. So things that kind of encompass physical, mental and emotional health. So what are some initiatives employers can implement around here?
00:22:04:13 - 00:22:37:00
Unknown
Well, and that's, you know, again, if you take a step back to look at all your wellness programs, what are you offering today and what can you bring in? There are programs that we've been developed that are a little more integrated. So you can say here, I want to create a program about, you know, balancing work so and so things where you coach them and say, you know, when you get into work, take 5 minutes at the beginning of work to just kind of arrive and be at your desk.
00:22:37:02 - 00:23:02:13
Unknown
Don't check your email, save your email review. So maybe 20 minutes into the job or, you know, or implementing, there's a technique called the Pomodoro technique, where you divide up your your time into 25 minute increments and you take just a slight break between them. So you just only focus on one thing for 25 minutes to explain two things.
00:23:02:13 - 00:23:40:03
Unknown
So if you're implementing, if you're doing project management, you can build that into it as well. So I think just really being open minded as an employer as to what options and again, this is for the survey too. So in handy is to help isolate, you know, what are things that employees interested in. And really I think what inhibits of employees from participating in those initiatives at work is sometimes the time you're hosting a one hour training course.
00:23:40:05 - 00:24:07:13
Unknown
Many employees, more than ten of them because they're like, I can't go that. But you can break that down to 15 minute sessions. You'll see that your attendance rates increase. So again, you're really trying to find a sweet spot for what you're offering and how much observation is in that program and then doing follow up. So that was useful.
00:24:07:15 - 00:24:35:16
Unknown
You know, how learned about this topic. One of the topics that they want to and so that's not so good, but it's again, taking that to the stage where our approach, it's not just one solution, but there are many aspects to it. Yeah, finding the balance, Google optimization. And I would just emphasize what you said on surveys and employee surveys and Emery can help you with that.
00:24:35:16 - 00:24:57:23
Unknown
We have employee surveys, we can help you with custom surveys. So I will make sure to add the link in the show notes. So if you do want to check that out, absolutely go for that. But we're I feel like a lot of managers or leaders may be asking the question right now, how do you know this is having an impact on your employees and your organization?
00:24:58:00 - 00:25:40:03
Unknown
Yeah, actually, using metrics, we can implement a lot of metrics within your own organization to measure. First, I would suggest to a baseline to consumer research. So like how often are we missing deadlines or other aspects within the organization? Absenteeism, utilization of PTO also seems to give you an overall view of where we'll start today, even serving and things again we've utilized since then, since getting baseline on the effectiveness of the program is today.
00:25:40:05 - 00:26:17:23
Unknown
And then as you move forward with these, once you're putting them out one by one by one, you can measure it into the survey information of that work, which is improving things long term and a little bit annually, you look at absenteeism rates and see how that's being affected or turnover statistics is number one. So as you see absenteeism rates starting to decline now, people lower turnover in the organization and all of these are indicators of several components of success, the wellness.
00:26:17:23 - 00:26:59:12
Unknown
But I think again, like I keep harping on it, surveys are a good way to pinpoint work as this affected where you can use exit interviews for people who do leave the organization and find out where do you see the lowest since or something that could have helped to reduce you? And then again, employee feedback about their managers, because again, we've talked about this all starts with leadership and has a trickle down effect and identifying leaders that maybe needs some additional support as well in their managerial style indicators.
00:26:59:14 - 00:27:36:10
Unknown
So these are all ways that you can say, yes, we will evaluate that. Some statistics to look at are performing over time. Yeah, sounds like there's a lot of indicators and tools out there to help you kind of measure that impact. And even some of those are mobile applications that people are downloading and which is the organization will store information that can with what effect without utilization and maybe help identify some other areas that people might want to expand upon.
00:27:36:12 - 00:28:12:08
Unknown
Well, or as we kind of close out the episode today, is there one thing that you want our listeners to really take away from today's episode on Mindful Workplaces? I know it's it's a lot and there are a lot of stigma associated with meditation or, you know, doing yoga or a lot of things like that, but recognizing that there isn't a one that's all sort of solution, that it's got to be customized to workplace.
00:28:12:10 - 00:28:40:15
Unknown
No being well connected experiences to be able to get that feedback, but was one of them in one thing. This is a journey that's about me as an individual. First and then come to me as a company. How we're going to provide resources and tools for each individual on that labor station. So keeping that in your mind, it will help you to develop these break ins.
00:28:40:17 - 00:29:13:23
Unknown
Now it's up to me in to help them to use it to help reduce stress, anxiety, stress, anxiety. Just for sure. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being our guest on today's topic and sharing all of your expertise, because I know you have so much in this area. I think everyone can really walk away with a lot of great new ideas and action steps that they can take to create a mindful workplace if they haven't already.
00:29:14:00 - 00:29:36:21
Unknown
But to our listeners listening and watching, if you liked our chat and our topic today, I would encourage you to share this episode out and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below and we have resources on this topic too, so make sure to look at the show notes and thanks for tuning in, Laura.
00:29:36:21 - 00:29:57:00
Unknown
Thanks for joining us today and we will see you next week and that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure you follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out.
00:29:57:00 - 00:30:01:22
Unknown
Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:42:16
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Hi, everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive, which is on the January edition of MRA's Monthly. Taylor Report, which is an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent. With Jim Morgan, MRA's vice president of Workforce Strategies. So thanks, Jim, again for being here.
00:00:42:17 - 00:01:06:01
Unknown
Yeah, it's good to be back in the studio. yeah. Well, this month the special focus was on essentials for HR Professionals. So I guess my first question to you is really why this topic now? And maybe before we get into that, let's look at your quote of the month, which was related to A.I.. So can you kind of speak on that for a little bit, why you chose that and then the topic.
00:01:06:04 - 00:01:34:02
Unknown
Yeah. Sure. The quote was A.I. is moving from traditional Human Resources Shared Services Administration up to human resources, business partner work using virtual assistants who provide us with cognitive insights like Alexa. It's going to happen faster and harder than HR people are ready for. And that was somebody from Deloitte. And I just thought it was interesting because where we're at right now with A.I. in HR is the very beginning.
00:01:34:04 - 00:01:55:20
Unknown
And, you know, we did some polling of our own members and talking to our own staff. I mean, it's really at its beginnings stages, and we're just trying to help our 4000 member companies kind of get out in front of it, see what's happening, you know, and where do I belong in all of this? And I think what really launched this is it took someone in the technology field to explain this to me.
00:01:55:20 - 00:02:18:04
Unknown
But they said, you know, when they're when they're working on products, theirs is very much a ready fire aim philosophy. It's it doesn't have to be done. Let's just throw it out there and see what happens because our customers will scream at us with whatever is wrong. And if you think of any new version of Microsoft or any new Apple phone, there's a reason it's 2.02.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2.
00:02:18:06 - 00:02:38:24
Unknown
And that they put something out there and they say, okay, what don't our people like? And then we'll fix it. And that's different than most any other industry that usually is like, we got to get this thing right to our customers or satisfied. But in the technology world, everything's moving so fast, it's more or less put it out there and then we can just pivot and go in a different direction of That's all we need to do.
00:02:38:24 - 00:03:06:10
Unknown
So we pick now at the start of the year because I think this is going to be a huge year for artificial intelligence and certainly for our members and people in HR. Yeah, absolutely. And you had kind of subject matter expert Chris Krause, vice president and principal consultant at Naviant join you for this talent report as well. And he gave kind of insight into all things AI related in terms of implementing it in companies and with HR teams specifically.
00:03:06:11 - 00:03:34:17
Unknown
So can you highlight some of his key points that you kind of talked about? And Yeah, and I would encourage people to watch that. One is Chris really did do a good job, but he was just sort of breaking it down in terms of where are different places that this will be used in HR And a lot of people have used Chad GPT or some other generative artificial intelligence to do things like how to write a job description or put together a career path.
00:03:34:17 - 00:03:53:06
Unknown
And he was sharing examples of that. And again, you know, everybody has to understand this is is not perfect. You don't ask a question, print it out and send it out to an interviewer, closest friends. But it's a good place to start. And he used the example of a machinist he just typed in, you know, what's a good job description for a machinist?
00:03:53:08 - 00:04:14:24
Unknown
And it came back with responsibilities and requirements and then he asked what would be a good, you know, career path for a machinist. And it came back with beginner, intermediate, advanced Leader and so, again, it wasn't the it wasn't the this is what's going into our policy handbook answer, But it was, wow, this is a pretty good start.
00:04:14:24 - 00:04:32:02
Unknown
And now if I'm a company looking for that machinist, I figure, okay, this is a good start. Now I need to add what is it that we need and what are the things that we're looking for? And he talked about, you know, using things like chat bots because there's just so many things that are standard questions in HR
00:04:32:07 - 00:04:53:20
Unknown
And i know that when benefits come around our age, our department and everyone would like to have some. If there was a way to just answer these, you know, what's the difference between plan one and plan two? What's duct to bowl? What does it mean to be out of service area? Those are all programable easy, you know, ready to answer questions.
00:04:53:22 - 00:05:17:16
Unknown
And so looking at it from a what are the administrative tasks or the redundant things that might be able to be better done in a different way? That's kind of where he started, but then went on to say, you know, artificial intelligence is being used in learning and development, it's being used in recruiting, and all of it is how do we take advantage of this asset and use it for good and not for you all?
00:05:17:16 - 00:05:37:06
Unknown
And he just had some real good examples of ways in which it was being used specifically in human resources. Yeah, I was going to say he did give a lot of great examples and I would urge you to take a look at that recording. And also while we're on this topic, do you want to kind of give an inch of the AI series that's going to be coming out?
00:05:37:07 - 00:05:57:10
Unknown
Yeah, sure. We're we're very excited by this, are just putting it together. It'll probably be March, April, but we're really trying to break it down into sections and talk about, you know, here's a AI, here's the basics of what's going on, but then talk about what does this mean for our administration? What does this mean for HR And learning development?
00:05:57:12 - 00:06:17:11
Unknown
What does this mean for HR and employee engagement? Yeah, all of them have samples of ways in which artificial intelligence is being utilized in a jar already. So i think it'll be a really good starting point for a lot of people who are like, I don't know where to go. I don't know where to start. I even know what the possibilities are.
00:06:17:13 - 00:06:32:12
Unknown
We're going to bring in some folks. I think they're going to be able to lay things out, not here's the answer, not here's prescription as to how you should do it. But, you know, here's the possible you got to figure out where it fits in your company. So I'm we'll be putting those out pretty soon. I think that'll be very exciting.
00:06:32:15 - 00:07:02:21
Unknown
Yeah. We also have a whole section on artificial intelligence at our employee law update that's coming up. So that's another one that, you know, again, we're trying to just help our members see where this might be going and they figure out what's going to be best for our company for sure. So stay tuned for that. But I'm kind of moving on here, looking at your actual talent report now with recruiting and retention innovation, it looks like you've pulled some stats from a new report from intelligent AECOM on some new and interesting happenings in recruiting.
00:07:02:21 - 00:07:26:09
Unknown
So can you kind of highlight what was seen here in some of those stats? Yeah, what we what we pulled out there was really it was looking at bachelor's degrees, quite frankly. And I think I think a lot of companies have picked up on this already. But, you know, many if they haven't updated anything in a while, Bachelor degrees 30 years ago were a separation of two piles of resumes like has one doesn't have one.
00:07:26:09 - 00:07:59:19
Unknown
And that's kind of the way things functioned. And the world has changed. And now it's you might be looking for a specific skill set and you might be looking for a certificate. You might just be looking for someone who's got the right attitude and fits your culture, and we can teach them the rest of it. So it was just looking at companies now that are starting to drop bachelor's degree from something that might have just been in there because it's always been in there and saying, what is it that we actually have to have, especially at in some entry level jobs and even middle level jobs where they may have gotten all kinds of experience
00:07:59:19 - 00:08:23:13
Unknown
somewhere else or have the ability and the skill set to do things and don't necessarily have that degree. So it was really encouraging companies to take a hard look at their the job postings in their job descriptions, to say even beyond just bachelor's degrees. You have a bunch of things in there that maybe just don't apply anymore, or that if you find the right person, you can teach them some of the things that.
00:08:23:15 - 00:08:53:17
Unknown
So it's just interesting. I think companies, again, are trying to get as big a funnel of candidates as they possibly can and not eliminate someone that might still have the ability to do the job. So get rid of those just qualifiers. Yeah, that is interesting. Kind of moving on from that point, then going off of recruiting and retention specifically going into more of the talent thinking talent pool, it looks like LinkedIn released its 34 big ideas that will change our world in 2024 or less.
00:08:53:19 - 00:09:16:20
Unknown
And I know you took you looked at that list and from that list, what do you see that's really of interest to HR Professionals specifically? Yeah, it's a really interesting list. And if someone's got the time to go, look, i'm sure if you just google linkedin's 34. Interesting things for 2024, you'd find it. It's just overall, it was a look at just society in general and some things that are going on.
00:09:16:22 - 00:09:41:01
Unknown
But some of the interesting ones that I thought, okay, well, these applied HR Specifically we've been talking about employee shortages, you know, here in the united states, but they had an interesting section in there on, you know, other countries that are actually encouraging and trying to put incentives in place for people to have children, whether that we're going to pay for child care or there's a bonus when the child is born.
00:09:41:03 - 00:10:17:03
Unknown
They're really trying. I mean, they've got some serious problems. And, you know, years and years of China, you know, people having one male child, that's got consequences to it. And now some of those countries are starting to see it. So it's not just happening in the United States. It's it's happening other places as well. Were they also we're looking at this might be the year where tensions kind of come to a head between primarily, I would say, newer and younger employees and traditional employers where new employees expectations might not mij meet employers.
00:10:17:05 - 00:10:35:04
Unknown
And I'm not saying one sided right or wrong, but if this is the way we've been doing things for 100 years and now you're coming in and you're telling me you want it done completely differently or you were expecting 10% raises every year, or the employer is saying, no, you have to come back to work, you have to be in the office.
00:10:35:06 - 00:11:05:09
Unknown
A lot of these things may be coming to a head, you know, this year to say, all right, whereas an employee do I bend, whereas an employer do I bend, and probably somewhere in the middle is the fair answer. But we may see some some long held beliefs that are going to be tested this year and and see, you know, employer versus employee, you know, who ends up winning out on that and expected unretired payment wave in 2020 for people who just said, this is it, I'm getting out.
00:11:05:11 - 00:11:25:02
Unknown
But now they're out and one they might miss the money, too. They might miss the socialization. Three, they might miss the purpose in life that some people maybe don't want want to go back to work in 60 hours a week. But they did get an awful lot out of work. And so now they might be taking a look at it again.
00:11:25:05 - 00:11:46:05
Unknown
Yeah. And then just some interesting things around, you know, I think colleges and universities are starting to figure this out, teaching a little bit more about entrepreneurship and creator society and helping people. 1920, 21, 22 that might be looking to get into, you know, their own gig and get out there and get going sort of that might not have been taught.
00:11:46:05 - 00:12:04:12
Unknown
There might have been more traditional business practices. Yeah. And so even they are now starting to see that there's a market here to say let's let's start looking at this creator environment and see if there are some things we can do there. So the world is changing and that was like three or four of them. But there was some pretty interesting insights into what might be coming down the pike.
00:12:04:13 - 00:12:31:14
Unknown
Yeah, that just made me think of I saw a class, it was being offered online, unlike how to be an influencer, which I just thought was funny, but it's like that's kind of where you're shifting almost and it's funny, but it's true and it's happening. So. So the Healthy Boulder influencer on her podcast, you know, I guess you could say that class, I feel like there's so many different types of influencers though, so anyway though, let's talk about our creativity.
00:12:31:14 - 00:12:58:23
Unknown
So you bring up generational diversity and what HR Professionals and MRA's roundtables are kind of sharing around this topic. So i'm curious to know what what are some of the things that they're saying about generational diversity that, you know, a lot of this, you know, looking at especially younger workers, you're starting to see some things like as a younger worker right now, I would say most look at it as like, I'm going to try out a bunch of things.
00:12:58:23 - 00:13:17:14
Unknown
I'm going to have three, four, five, six jobs in the first ten years that I'm working, and I'm going to get this great breadth of experience that makes perfect sense. I understand what they're doing. My life, it was, Well, I'm going to find this job and I'm going to learn as much as I can about it, and I'm going to climb the ladder and I'm going to be here for ten or 15 years.
00:13:17:16 - 00:13:33:15
Unknown
I'm not saying either one of those again is right or wrong, but if I'm looking at a resume and I've got my bias, I'm thinking, Wow, this person's moving all over. They can't hold a job. Yeah, that person's thinking, Wow, I'm a great candidate. Look at all the places that I've gone in order to get as much experience as I can.
00:13:33:17 - 00:13:55:10
Unknown
So there's just a little bit of a we got to understand, you know, where each one's coming from. So I think people are starting to look at that a little bit. The feedback issue, you know, the traditional once a year will have some sort of review and we'll go through your entire year. Well, I'm not sure that's the best way to That's why it's been done.
00:13:55:12 - 00:14:17:11
Unknown
But okay, So I'm trying to remember right now what my employees did last February. I'm likely to remember what did you do in December and January or December? In November. And if they had really good months, I'm probably thinking now is a great year for you. And if they had a maybe a mess up or two in the last two months, I'm thinking, boy, this has been a rough year and that's not what a lot of the younger talent is looking for.
00:14:17:11 - 00:14:38:22
Unknown
It's, you know, monthly, it's immediate. You know, these sayings like, well, you'll learn if I go, don't make me make too many mistakes in order to learn, just tell me what you want me to do or what I didn't do, right? I guess so, Yeah. Yeah. So you're you're a living example of it. So I think it's, you know, understanding that that immediate feedback actually makes more sense.
00:14:38:24 - 00:15:01:11
Unknown
It's more helpful, it's more productive when you've got, you know, a happier employee. And then we've talked about this before, but just the generational differences with communications. I text with you. If you know that you want to find me right now, you're liable to text me not emailing sure is like you're not picking up your phone and calling me, but that's the preferred method.
00:15:01:11 - 00:15:22:14
Unknown
And for a lot of older folks, it's like we have email, just email. We need to do it that way. Am I giving you my phone number? Yeah, I'm not. I don't know which one is right, wrong or indifferent, but they're different. And so we either as a company have to figure out what our policy is or just as employees and employers figure out, you know, what's our philosophy going to be on this so that we're at least consistent with it?
00:15:22:16 - 00:15:59:19
Unknown
Absolutely. Well, kind of going into some HR Trends from the field section. McLean company recently released some HR trends in 2024. So what were some of the interesting findings that you saw here? I think some of the things are still not surprises. Recruiting was at the top. Providing a great employee experience was up there and I think that has to go with the retention part as companies are seeing that now controlling labor costs is in there, which is interesting because we did go through a few years where we were just about paying whatever it took to get people, and I think we did that.
00:15:59:19 - 00:16:24:23
Unknown
We had to do it. But now there is there's a business decision to be made here that we can't be increasing by six, seven, eight, 9% our employee costs every year because we can't afford to do it. So now there might be an emphasis on how do we get smarter, how do we maybe use machines, how do we use technology to do it a little bit better so that one's on their developing leaders is on there?
00:16:24:23 - 00:16:50:11
Unknown
We're seeing a lot of that and I think a lot of that is all kinds of retirements, younger people coming in and how do we train them a little bit more quickly. And the good news side, actually a good news bad news side for the HR Folks, an increase in HR Departments and HR People that are being used and are a part of organizational strategy and over the last three years rose from 36% to 50% that they are involved in those decisions.
00:16:50:13 - 00:17:12:08
Unknown
I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but at the same time, we saw an increase from 34% to 47% of our professionals saying they're stressed out. so I wonder why you asked for something. You got it. Now you got more work, you know, as a group. But, you know, the good news is I think that companies are much more conscientious about our people are a big part of our strategy.
00:17:12:08 - 00:17:29:01
Unknown
And so folks are more engaged. And while I think that's part of the stress, I think the stress has more to do with just more things on their plate. You can of COVID. Now we're into remote work and where are people going to work and how do we get more out of less and how do we figure out where our compensation is right now?
00:17:29:01 - 00:17:47:19
Unknown
Because the market is changing so quickly, we can't my people or I'm not I'm keeping people. There's a lot going on. And so I think that had an awful lot to do with them with the stress and the last one, I think is about 80, 81% of the people said, we think we're settling into the whole remote work thing.
00:17:47:19 - 00:18:04:09
Unknown
Now, I think people are starting to figure out whatever that means for them, were totally remote, were totally in the office, or most likely we've got a combination, but we've we've kind of figured out what it is. It's three days a week. There's a week two days a week, whatever it might be. Companies are starting to figure it out.
00:18:04:14 - 00:18:28:16
Unknown
Yeah, So I think we're getting there with that one. Yeah, definitely. And I feel like maybe part of the reason why there's more HR Folks doing more strategic work now too. Could be because of ai or that i could help grow that percentage just because, like you've mentioned, i kind of helps you focus on the strategic work while ai is helping you with more of the operational day to day routine tasks.
00:18:28:16 - 00:18:52:14
Unknown
Yep. And kind of going off of AI. Then Emery actually released a recent hot topic survey on AI in the workplace in this month and charts you kind of looked at a couple of the questions from that survey. So can you give us some of the data and what were the questions? First of all, I guess, yeah, first, we were trying to figure out where our members were at, you know, because our job is to is to really to serve them.
00:18:52:18 - 00:19:21:11
Unknown
Yeah. But we asked them the first question we asked them is what percentage of your employees are currently testing out AI? And we laughed at that broad. But really we're willing to take, you know, almost anything. You know, I've been on chatbot once. Okay, yeah, that qualifies. But we still had 76% of our members have less than 5%, or at least they think less than 5% of their folks are active in in AI and another 14% that 5 to 10%.
00:19:21:11 - 00:19:43:20
Unknown
So still very new. You know, for all of them. We also asked them if they had an individual or a department, somebody responsible for whatever they were going to do and whether that was can you just figure out what's going on all the way to strategic development? And 74% of them were at a point of we have nobody in charge.
00:19:43:20 - 00:20:01:15
Unknown
We might have people looking at it, we might have people taken, you know, stabs added, but they really didn't have someone who said, you know, your job is to make sure we know where we need to be and what's going on. So very new with all of them at the same time, you know, we said, well, what do you need from us?
00:20:01:17 - 00:20:25:03
Unknown
And we had, you know, 80% of the people saying, geez, I could use some user guides and goals and objectives. I could use more content on what's going on. So they're looking for can you give me some things and start feeding me stuff? Because I think people know this is coming. Yeah, I'm not going to stop and you're not going to be able to control it, so we better get out in front of it a little bit.
00:20:25:05 - 00:20:50:18
Unknown
So there was a lot of interest in that. And then because we had the webinar series coming up, we asked them about, you know, what exactly in age are you looking for? Is it? I think we offered them learning and development, just the admin side of our employee engagement recruiting, and all of them came back and, you know, different mixes and matches, but all of them, there were about 60 to 65% had an interest in every one of those.
00:20:50:20 - 00:21:15:07
Unknown
Yeah. So I think it's I just need some help, Right. Well it's like just provide me something and I think that I'll be happy. So we are, you know, like everybody else, we not only have to figure it out for mirror with our own products and services and our own staff, but also figure out where our members are at and, you know, try to help them get to where they got to get because there's going to be a big year for I think a lot is going to happen.
00:21:15:09 - 00:21:31:06
Unknown
I mean, we all got to be ready for it. Yeah, well, good thing we have the air series coming out. We do? Yeah, we do. So. So we've got your Alberts. Well, Jim, as a kind of close out here, can you give us a look ahead at next month's or February's talent report and the kind of topics you'll be talking about there?
00:21:31:10 - 00:21:58:05
Unknown
Yeah, we're we're going to look at internships again, but a little bit deeper around. I think it's becoming one of the leading ways for companies to find people. But those strategies around how, you know, when do I find them, how do I find them, how do I prepare them, how do I make sure their experience is a good one and how do I hang on to them and kind of give them a path right into our organization?
00:21:58:05 - 00:22:21:21
Unknown
Because if we're going to invest in bringing these people in and having these interns and helping them learn, it can't just be three months of busy work. Now we have to look at them as we're almost onboarding them, right? Three months. We're trying to prepare them, one, to understand the business and two, to want to work here. And then especially for those that, you know, maybe have another year of school left, we've got nine months now.
00:22:21:21 - 00:22:35:17
Unknown
They figure out how to hang on to them. So what are we doing to make that a good experience that they're not looking anywhere else and we know we can count on them when they graduate the next May. So it is kind of going to be a, you know, right from the beginning to getting them to come work for us.
00:22:35:19 - 00:22:57:22
Unknown
You know, how do we just look at this as this is our supply chain and we all take care of it? Yeah, well, that will be a great topic and February is a great time to start that conversation. So looking forward to a time to all. Jim, thank you again, per usual for all the back. Great information and kind of recapping what you were seeing, January's talent report.
00:22:57:24 - 00:23:24:02
Unknown
But to our listeners, if you liked our chat and our topic for today, don't forget to share out this episode. Give it a like we recommend and consider joining MRA if you are not a member already. As usual, we have all the resources for you in the show notes below, so make sure to look at those. We have Jim's LinkedIn profile if you want to get in contact with him or have any questions for him and we'll see you next week for our next episode.
00:23:24:07 - 00:23:42:06
Unknown
So thank you again. Jim. Yeah, my pleasure. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcasts updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out.
00:23:42:06 - 00:23:47:00
Unknown
Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:54:07
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. In this episode specifically, we're going to be talking about cutting edge trends with MRA, our business partner, Kari Wozniak. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we'll give you advice on how to navigate challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while also implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to really shaped or the workplace of the future.
00:00:54:09 - 00:01:16:15
Unknown
So, Kari, I know you really work directly with a lot of our member companies and you've been in HR for over 20 years, I think so you've really seen it all when it comes to trends and challenges. So I'm excited about the opportunity to really sit down and talk with you on what you're currently seeing trend wise. So thanks again for being here today.
00:01:16:15 - 00:01:44:08
Unknown
I'm excited. Thanks. I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off. Employee experience is often cited as a critical factor in organizational success. So how are HR Professionals really working to enhance and optimize the overall employee journey with their companies? Sure. You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been for for for quite a while.
00:01:44:10 - 00:02:07:15
Unknown
As as everyone is aware, we've been involved in a labor shortage for quite a while. It's not expected to change anytime soon. As you know, birth rates are low and generational changes and all that stuff's kind of coming through. So the employee experience becomes critical to attracting and retaining your talent. So some just key things to think about is you really need to be listening to your employees.
00:02:07:17 - 00:02:23:03
Unknown
You know, it's okay to read the articles out there, listen to trends, you know, pay attention to what's going on in the world because that will help guide you in the right direction. But your teams, your environment is going to be a little bit different than anywhere else. So you want to make sure that you're you have frequent and targeted feedback loops of your employees.
00:02:23:03 - 00:02:49:08
Unknown
So think about things like pulse surveys, small group listening sessions, day interviews, things like that, so that you understand why people stay and why you believe and you can address those to make sure that you have the right employee experience. You also want to make sure that you're starting small and implementing quickly. We just don't have the time anymore to plan for a year and then take a long time to implement and have the perfect programs.
00:02:49:10 - 00:03:05:16
Unknown
Instead, we need to look at these things as continuous improvements. Pick a few things that you can implement quickly that will have an impact on your team and move those over the finish line so that you actually see the impact of those. And then, of course, circling back with your employees, making sure that did you actually hit the mark?
00:03:05:16 - 00:03:27:18
Unknown
Is this what they wanted? So that's general guidelines and how to tackle things. But some actual specific ideas here are communication tools. So you need to make sure that you are communicating with your employees for the channels they actually use. And, you know, we are so used to using email newsletters, even home mailings that are now pretty old school versions.
00:03:27:21 - 00:03:46:10
Unknown
You still need those because you have a lot of people who are comfortable with them. But now you need to be looking at your texting your employees. Are you recording video messages or are you utilizing instant messaging? What about like communication apps like Slack, things like that? You need to make sure that you're communicating with your teams in in those areas.
00:03:46:10 - 00:04:10:07
Unknown
It is in all of these places or at least in a select few, and that you're having that same consistent message regardless of where you're communicating because you want them all to hear the same things, but where they're actually going to go, where they're going to go use it. And in that you're considering your generations, you're considering learning and communication styles and then what technology is actually available to the individual.
00:04:10:09 - 00:04:34:01
Unknown
You know, your manufacturing employees don't necessarily have the same access to drop as team has. So how are you making sure that they're still getting the messages that you need to have them out there? And time is always an issue, so don't overwhelm your communications team with a million different things to focus on. Make sure it's a sustainable process and that you're automating where you can.
00:04:34:03 - 00:04:57:03
Unknown
So some other things beyond communication tools is you want to make sure you're integrating and simplifying your technology tools. Again, the more things you have, the more you going to manage. So looking at fewer sources of truth or better aggregated tools to be able to pull your information and think about the the consumer experience your employees are used to when they're at home, right?
00:04:57:03 - 00:05:26:13
Unknown
They're using Alexa, Siri and Google in order to get the information they need to do their personal work in seconds. But then at work, we're going into different THRIVEs, different disparate systems. You got to remember where everything's housed and how you actually pull everything together. It's time consuming and it's frustrating. So how do you mirror that consumer experience at work that they're used to at home or actually watching technology things?
00:05:26:15 - 00:05:45:23
Unknown
absolutely. And I feel like just to add on that, the employee experience, it comes down to how well you can listen to your employees and implement the things that they want and that they're interested in. So I like that you highlighted that you don't always have to listen to that outside conversations that might be kind of pulling you in.
00:05:45:23 - 00:06:11:06
Unknown
It's really about what does your company value, what do your employees value, and something that might work for one person might not work for another. But I'm glad that you personalization, right? Like at the end of the day, your employees want to know that you know them. You absolutely very well kind of moving on now into flexible work arrangements that's been a key trend the past couple years now.
00:06:11:08 - 00:06:35:17
Unknown
So how how is really addressing the challenges of managing hybrid teams then and what strategies are being implemented to ensure collaboration and communication remain effective? Sure. So there's a couple different different things in there. So being flexible in the first place, creating those flexible work arrangements is going to be really, really important. And we're all we're hearing a lot about.
00:06:35:19 - 00:07:01:13
Unknown
It's no longer about work life balance, it's about work life integration or fit and the concept there is it's not how do I fit my life around my job, it's how do I how do I have meaningful work that's going to support the life that I want to have? And while that seems like a nuance, it's a really important distinction because employees maybe don't want their whole identity to be what they do for a living anymore.
00:07:01:15 - 00:07:24:17
Unknown
And everybody has different challenges, whether it's the raising children, if they've got aging parents, if they've got just hobbies or, you know, desires to travel the world or whatever, those things are, they want to figure out how to balance that while providing the opportunity to be a professional, to contribute in different ways. So to me, one of the key things that employers need to do is be creative.
00:07:24:17 - 00:07:50:13
Unknown
We can't just sit there and look at, well, everybody has to work 9 to 5 in an office and do things exactly the way that we've historically used it, you know, the pandemic that we always want to bring that up. But it just changed people's expectations and how they can how they know they can get work done. So so whether it's remote hybrid, so where you actually do work, but there's also the actual schedule itself.
00:07:50:13 - 00:08:14:17
Unknown
So can I work maybe four tens? Can I work long hours on weekends or even a combination of those things? Is it more I just need to get my work done when I get it done, maybe matters a little bit less. You can even look at hiring people into job sharing kind of situations where maybe you're hiring two part time people to accomplish the tasks of one full time job.
00:08:14:19 - 00:08:35:14
Unknown
A lot of companies are starting to use contractors and consultants, kind of this gig concept. Like, I have a project, I'm going to pick that up, I'm going to work on it. So if you're employing people in these these new ways, it's not all just full time Monday through Friday kind of employees. Then you've got to figure out how do you how do you communicate amongst all these different schedules?
00:08:35:14 - 00:09:00:16
Unknown
How do you ensure that people feel like a part of a team and that especially you hear it on weekends and like night shifts and things like that, They don't feel like they're part of the team anymore. So so a key is actually pulling people together in collaborative and community and strong communication ways. So with a focus on actually getting to know each other, having that social connection while you're still being productive.
00:09:00:20 - 00:09:30:16
Unknown
And so can you build your team meetings in person, maybe have core hours that everybody has to be there on Wednesdays from from tended to. But other than that, we can kind of work around it. But in those times when you're having people in these more collaborative work environments, make sure it's fun and make it worth driving into the office when if I could have just done my meeting on Zoom at home anyway, why did I THRIVE 45 minutes into the office today?
00:09:30:18 - 00:09:57:24
Unknown
So make sure it's worthwhile that they're having that those connections. And it's not always just work like some of it's getting to know your team, having just that time to talk so that they can work better on other things outside of those meetings too. So I think it's just really important that there is that environment when you're together, that you're having fun, you're still getting things done and you're building that that team environment, you know?
00:09:58:01 - 00:10:22:20
Unknown
Absolutely. I love all those ideas. Kari And we talk a lot with Jim Morgan. You mentioned the generational differences and export work arrangements, brings up a lot of ideas and even challenges with with generations and working flexible hours. I know sometimes we talk about these like, why are you emailing me at 2 a.m. and it's like, Hey, that might work for me and it might not work for you.
00:10:22:20 - 00:10:45:02
Unknown
But if the employer can understand that not everybody is the same, I think that will I don't know. It just helps create kind of that more cohesive team. Even if I'm working the same 9 to 5, like you mentioned one, when you get with employers, I think the resistance comes from we've never really learned how to manage people that way.
00:10:45:04 - 00:11:06:14
Unknown
You know, historically I kind of button seat management, which is maybe not the best term, but we're so used to like, I see you, I see working on your computer, you're actively engaged in a meeting. I can tell that you're doing your job when you're not in front of me, when I can't actually see the work that not even seeing an output in that scenario.
00:11:06:14 - 00:11:33:09
Unknown
But when I can't see that you're working, then people question, Well, maybe they're doing something else. And then there starts to be this little bit of distrust. We need to change our management styles to focusing on outcomes instead. So it's not as much about how many hours I worked or when I worked or, you know, whether or not you went through 100 emails today or, you know, all of that is I need to produce this result.
00:11:33:09 - 00:11:56:11
Unknown
So is it in my doing something of quality? Is that effective and am I having a positive impact on my team? You know, those are things we need to start measuring. But the harder they're just because a lot of jobs, they don't make widgets. You know, it's not that I'm going to produce 30 of these things an hour so how can you say I have strong output in, in what I'm doing?
00:11:56:13 - 00:12:15:19
Unknown
So managers and I need to take a step back in these and evaluate the roles? How do I manage these these positions effectively so that I'm not questioning whether or not they're actually doing the job, the right thing. The right thing is, is what I produce now, how long it takes me to produce and where I do it.
00:12:15:21 - 00:12:44:18
Unknown
Absolutely. That's a great point, Harry. We're also in the age of social media and increased transparency. So I'm curious, how is employer branding evolving then, with that in mind, in what role does it really play in shaping and promoting a positive employer brand and culture? Sure, a lot of this goes back to that employee experience that we talked about as the first question, and this is now your content for your employer brand, right?
00:12:44:18 - 00:13:08:10
Unknown
Like when you're asking the questions of your team, of what they want, then when you actually put programs in place, when things are effective, then that's what you need to do and tell tell the outside world about it and remind your your current employees when you're doing those things and what the benefits of having them are. So making sure that you're telling people the things that you're working at and getting that out there.
00:13:08:10 - 00:13:34:01
Unknown
But you need to also make sure that the employer brand rings true to what your environment actually is. I think historically, marketing would put together this really professional and buttoned up program that made everything look perfect. We're seeing now instead that employers are taking their phones out and they're recording things just as much more casual, but it's more real.
00:13:34:03 - 00:13:57:16
Unknown
And I think the candidates today and employees are they connect to that because they know that things aren't always produced. And it's not that everyone's always beautiful in an actress and they should leave things instead. I want to see my coworker wearing their uniform actually working on a piece of equipment, talking about what their day is. This comes in as like workers always refer to it as the realistic job preview.
00:13:57:16 - 00:14:27:19
Unknown
You know, you want to know if you're coming into an organization, what you're actually going to experience, not just what your leadership wants people to see. So being very, very honest about it, making sure that what you're putting out about your employer brand, whether it's on social media, whether it's just through word of mouth, that it actually matches what your organization does, so that when someone comes into the organization that you know, okay, this is what I thought I was getting into.
00:14:27:21 - 00:14:52:01
Unknown
And there's fun ways to do that, especially in small businesses. I think the they tend to think they need a full marketing team to build this out. You can put little notes out about employee promotions or new hires and anniversaries. You can talk about your long term employees and you know, what is their career path, kind of then throw out the time they've been there or, you know, you brought in pizza posted that's okay.
00:14:52:03 - 00:15:14:20
Unknown
But those are truly things that you're doing as an organization. But then try to encourage people to do more. Like if you do volunteer days, can we post about those? If there is training that's been received, maybe you sent somebody to Emory and they got certified. Put that out there too, because these are things showing how you're actually supporting your employees in real life.
00:15:14:22 - 00:15:37:16
Unknown
You know, absolutely. Those are all great examples, too. And I like that pulling out your phone and just taking a casual video feel like I've heard that so much recently. And I think Amanda Mosteller one of our working and developing instructors called it like the TikTok era, where you just do a quick 32nd video, kind of showcase who you are, what the brand is.
00:15:37:18 - 00:16:07:24
Unknown
And I had a story about that. Our marketing team was in. We worked on some project for, like we to bring in the light, to bring in the cameras, kind of like you said, the full produce. And it's like, no, just take out your phone, your cart recorded selfie style. That's what everyone wants to see. And like you said, it's very relatable and it may or may not be a generational thing, as in, I think the younger generation is used to seeing that same all over.
00:16:08:01 - 00:16:42:16
Unknown
And maybe that's something that the more seasoned professionals have to get used to that style. But I definitely agree that that's that's where branding and kind of digital content is going is the more relatable content. And I think while it is generational from the standpoint of expecting it in, I think all the generations kind of recognize that it feels more accurate in that it's like, okay, that actually probably happened, right?
00:16:42:20 - 00:17:07:09
Unknown
They didn't spend $100,000 to produce this video, you know, and the questions behind that messaging. So I think it is a it's more about being transparent as an organization. And I think there's tools to make that easier to do. And actually, just as I'm saying, the word transparent, the other thing that is really important with employer brands and HR
00:17:07:11 - 00:17:30:14
Unknown
Knows this is is your pay pay transparency is really, really important. It's it's coming. If it's not already in your state, it's coming and know the legislations their candidates expect it. We got to stop trying to pretend it's something nobody talks about and start being more upfront about it. And so how do you wrap that into your employer brand?
00:17:30:16 - 00:17:52:01
Unknown
And, you know, we can't necessarily be the top payers and with all the benefits, you know, you have to balance your your dollars. But you can talk about what's key, you know, do you have incentive compensation that helps you stand out? Do you you know, maybe you are paying at the higher, higher level or you have some special employee benefit to your total rewards is is a is a balancing act.
00:17:52:01 - 00:18:24:01
Unknown
But make sure that you're talking about that and and that you're just you're being upfront about what you believe the job is worth because then you're going to get the people to apply who and who also think that's what the job's worth, right? For sure. So just continuing with the digital digital training here with the rise of automation and I was really balancing technology adoption with the human touch in managing talent and fostering a positive workplace culture.
00:18:24:04 - 00:18:42:04
Unknown
So that's been a big challenge for a lot of people recently. Well, it's so new and it's in I mean, my guess is not new. I grew up in the nineties. If we're watching The Terminator, right? Like, I mean, you expected it to come and, and now it's a question of what does it mean in reality and not in science fiction.
00:18:42:06 - 00:19:11:02
Unknown
And so every business function, including ours, is grappling with this at some, some level. I think the most important thing that needs to get out in front of this is to remind employees and themselves they are not replacing you. There is still another job on the other side of it, no different than in in the Industrial Revolution when we started seeing machines come into manufacturing, we didn't stop hiring people because the machines were there.
00:19:11:04 - 00:19:32:05
Unknown
Now we just needed a different skill set and so we had to make sure that that we're keeping people trained, that they're learning along the way so that they don't get left behind because the DNA not your replace your job, but you are not learning how to use it, will make someone else replace your job. The person who actually does have that skill.
00:19:32:07 - 00:19:53:04
Unknown
And so that's important for for each of us as as professionals, You know, we're employees too, but we need to stay in front of our employees and remind them that their that jobs will exist. It just might not look tomorrow exactly the way that it looked today, but it never has. So that's not completely unheard of anyway. But so we need to get in front of that.
00:19:53:04 - 00:20:27:12
Unknown
We need to communicate with them, you know, where we see AI coming into their particular roles and then take the time to build training and adoption tools to help them get there because it is going to be new for everybody. So let's just keep everybody moving at the same time. Things that I think about and where I probably should be coming into play is you're trying to automate manual, repetitive processes that don't require creativity, strategic thinking or what I think is important, an empathetic response, right?
00:20:27:12 - 00:20:54:12
Unknown
People need to do that. But if the rules are already there and it's a plus B, we'll see. Get people out of that. It's not worth their time. That's when you start to have the technology come come into play too, to do that. So for our specifically, that might be answering questions on policies and benefit inquiries like it's factual and be able to use a chat bot for something like that.
00:20:54:14 - 00:21:34:21
Unknown
How do you, how do you use systems and tools? You don't necessarily need to have somebody standing in front of them doing the training. How can you help affected training that that's there that they can utilize and access without the without taking up the time of an individual? Things like metrics and data reporting. I mean, I'll be able to set up automated resume screening and interview coordination are hugely time consuming things that again, as long as you define your factors and can can very much be done by by software and then performance cycle administration, I think is an area that can really get focused on what I want.
00:21:34:21 - 00:22:07:06
Unknown
Scaring people is the idea that performance management, actual management might get in been used with I, I don't see that happening for quite a long time because there is still that's the creativity and strategic thinking and we have to have pretty pretty fancy software to be able to get that right. But that leads into HR Has to be a gatekeeper of if you want to call it algorithms, if you want to call parameters, whatever the rules are that are being built, HR
00:22:07:06 - 00:22:32:01
Unknown
Has to review those for bias. So you can't have your recruitment software picking your hires because there is inherent bias in the data that we're using to automate this process in the first place, and we have to question it. We got to put those on that scene with compensation, career development, anything that is truly career and employment impacting HR
00:22:32:01 - 00:22:57:06
Unknown
Really needs to be reviewing what those rules are that are being put into the system and and doing adverse impact analysis to make sure that we're not going to have whether conscious or unconscious bias come in because that's going to get you in legal trouble. But more importantly, it's unethical, right? No, i'm i'm really glad you reiterated the point that I is not going to get rid of your job and that we still need you.
00:22:57:08 - 00:23:23:00
Unknown
I feel like I've heard that in a lot of places and we've talked about it on a couple of podcasts. But those are all great examples of where HR and just business overall can use AI and how you can kind of integrate it into your automated processes so you can focus on all of the strategic planning processes if the things you don't like to do because they're boring.
00:23:23:02 - 00:24:00:17
Unknown
there you go, There you go. And then you can focus on like the stuff that you actually really want to do, which is using your brain. Exactly. Well, the concept of agile HR Is also gaining popularity. So my question is, how are HR teams embracing agility to respond quickly to changing business needs and marketing market dynamics? Yeah, this is a it mentioned a little bit earlier, but it's it's changing your mindset from only implementing things when they're perfect to getting into an iterative continuous improvement process.
00:24:00:19 - 00:24:29:01
Unknown
We just don't have time with how quickly things change to make sure everything is perfect. We can't build a handbook, have to go sit on a shelf and five years from now look at it again. But you have to be pulling things out every six months, reviewing, making sure that there's minor tweaks and rolling things out. Was looking at some of my concepts like technology is becoming obsolete in 3 to 5 years.
00:24:29:03 - 00:24:53:10
Unknown
So if it takes you six months to select a new system and a year to implement it and six more months to optimize and get it really working for you, you're now ready to replace it again. So you need to be constantly changing and tweaking and adjusting and that is going to to be the case for for not just your technology tools, not just your HR
00:24:53:11 - 00:25:14:06
Unknown
Resources, but really anything that you were touching in support of the business. So when you're talking about career development, maybe you're creating career ladders, trying to retain people. You can't just build the program and come back to it a couple of years later and expect that it has been working the whole time. So we something out 80% good.
00:25:14:08 - 00:25:49:09
Unknown
Learn from that and then make adjustments and be transparent with your employees. Be like, Hey, we tried it. We found something that didn't work. So now we're going to adjust and try to make it better. So that's necessary with just about everything. When regulations keep changing your employees and candidates, expectations are changing so rapidly. We're just in a in a world where the iterations are coming so much faster that you have to you just have to keep adjusting along the way and don't worry about perfection.
00:25:49:11 - 00:26:13:13
Unknown
And then of course, we sort of automate where you can so that you don't have to spend your time on administrative tasks and you can focus more on on these things that need to keep changing in response to the needs your business. And I would say and celebrate wins because we kind of forget that step. We keep the burnout, all that stuff kind of comes because everything is coming so quickly.
00:26:13:15 - 00:26:35:11
Unknown
So when you do implement something, remember to celebrate it. Say thank you, Remind people that it's happened so that they see the work and effort that's happening. Take a little bit of a breath before you move on to the next project. Yeah, no, absolutely. That's great advice. I'm kind of moving the conversation to a little different topic here.
00:26:35:13 - 00:27:07:18
Unknown
How is HR addressing the growing importance of sustainability in corporate social responsibility, in shaping workplace values and practices? I think this is something our listeners are very curious on and they kind of want to want to know more about this topic. So we set out on this question that it's it's it's very different now than when when I started my career, I was even in even five or ten years ago when people were talking about corporate responsibility.
00:27:07:20 - 00:27:35:14
Unknown
But it was more like, don't be a bad player, you know, don't don't have the you know, the Environmental Protection Agency coming in and doing something from a legislative standpoint. Now it's more about aligning your organizational values with your business process. So if you go out on many, many company websites, they'll have their mission, vision and values. You see common things about integrity and ethics.
00:27:35:16 - 00:27:59:23
Unknown
You know, maybe environmental sustainability is is listed out there. But I think the most important thing is aligning that to, again, what you what you're actually doing. So it's important to to walk the talk. So you want to make sure that you're integrating your business practices in in that that social responsibility that you're saying you feel is important.
00:27:59:23 - 00:28:26:14
Unknown
So think about like maybe you need to review your supply chain contracts because you want to align with, you know, maybe you've got a DEA and B program that you're very vocal about you're putting on your employer brand. You can't sit there and say, I'm in support of a particular group, but then never use them as your supply chain.
00:28:26:16 - 00:28:51:23
Unknown
So what are your criteria for selecting vendors? How do you bring that in from from a social responsibility standpoint? You know, looking at your manufacturing practices, it's great to sit there and say we will we recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle. But what if your manufacturing practices are creating significant amounts of waste? You need to look at that process and find ways to to have a direct impact.
00:28:52:00 - 00:29:18:15
Unknown
You might want to implement a scholarship program that's in support of, you know, organizations or groups that you're providing support to. So again, just that deeper integration that rings true to your organization. So it's not enough just to to post support out on social media or write a donation check. You need to align who you are as an organization, which you're saying in your values.
00:29:18:15 - 00:29:43:05
Unknown
This is who you are with, what you're actually doing. And so that's going to help with your employees will see that it'll gain trust with them candidates where this is important to them. They'll be attracted to your organization because it aligns with their values. And I mean, that's the perfect scenario is if you can recruit people who believe what you believe, they're going to fit your culture.
00:29:43:05 - 00:30:14:02
Unknown
They're going to they're going to they're going to stick with you, too, because there is more to the relationship than a paycheck. Instead, they feel good about what they're doing. So a couple of common areas, because I think people question, you know, what is it all mean? What's the definition of this? Some common areas that organizations are considering under that social responsibility kind of umbrella is, as I mentioned, the diversity equity inclusion, belonging activities, environmental sustainability, fair trade.
00:30:14:04 - 00:30:37:19
Unknown
You know, again, you want to buy from vendors in potentially third world countries that are not paying people effectively or just have to the sustainable wages and then responsible labor practices within your own, your own environment, within anybody that you're doing business with. So those are things to to measure as well as make sure that you're considering when you're making decisions.
00:30:37:19 - 00:31:00:18
Unknown
And as an organization. Absolutely. Those are great examples and I feel like a common one too, is just volunteering. A lot of organizations say they value volunteering, but then it's like, do you give your employees volunteer opportunities to sit out, kind of start to finish thing? Like, do you follow up with them? How is their experience? How how they get involved in the community?
00:31:00:18 - 00:31:19:16
Unknown
Like you can't just stop at 25%. You got to keep it going kind of thing. There are some organizations and I won't name any, but I'm very recognizable that you see out in the world wearing their volunteer t shirts and you see them at events all over the place. And so, you know that that's really something that that organization takes seriously.
00:31:19:18 - 00:31:48:02
Unknown
Right? Right. Well, just kind of wrapping up here today. One more question for you. Leadership development is obviously crucial for organizational growth. So what initiatives are HR Departments implementing to identify and nurture leadership talent within organization? This is a really key area for me, and i feel like we don't spend quite enough time and energy on this in an actual practice.
00:31:48:04 - 00:32:23:01
Unknown
You know, so often we promote the best individual contributor into running a department, but we haven't necessarily stepped back and said, are they a leader? Are they somebody that people go to naturally when when when the managers in a meeting, who do they actually reach out amongst their team members to get support and help? So first, I think your selection process needs to definitely be evaluated a little bit more and you need to make sure that the individual contributors can still grow without becoming managers because not every person should become a leader.
00:32:23:03 - 00:32:47:04
Unknown
But then another aspect of leadership development for me is actually the job evaluation of our front line and mid-level managers. We have a lot going on in these positions. There's high, high expectations of them and they don't always have the time and resources to be able to actually do the job effectively. So it's a really common pressure point.
00:32:47:04 - 00:33:20:22
Unknown
And what I mean by that is senior leadership has expectations of goals and initiatives and growth plans that need to be executed on by these team members. And now we're seeing employee expectations and the employee experience has increased a lot of what they expect out of their frontline manager. You know, they're expecting that their managers want to know them as individuals, that they adjust their leadership style to them, that they're helping them develop in their careers, that they're representing the organization on a day to day basis.
00:33:20:22 - 00:33:55:12
Unknown
Strong communication, regular feedback. You know, there's just a there's a lot that's being expected at that. And then these roles commonly have extremely high spans of control. So you see it's not uncommon to see a supervisor have 20 to 30 direct reports if you expect them to know their employees on an individual basis and provide a strong employee experience, while also meeting the strategic goals and needs of the organization, probably need to take a look at the span of control because that's probably not a realistic ask.
00:33:55:14 - 00:34:20:14
Unknown
And they also have a lot of administrative work, whether it's time cards and performance reviews and you just all these tools and resources that they have to do on an ongoing basis. So I think it's a really important that we especially as we take a step back and then look at whether it's a program we're implementing, what's the impact on them, but also are we really designing the jobs in a way that's going to make them successful?
00:34:20:15 - 00:34:47:05
Unknown
So that's a it's just a it's a key area for me is making sure that they're spending that time, especially given we know the direct managers are a key reason why employees stay or leave an organization. So if we don't provide the support to those specific individuals, how are we really long term impacting our ability to to get the right talent in the organization?
00:34:47:07 - 00:35:12:16
Unknown
So it's like I said, we need to make sure that we're focusing on evaluating what those responsibilities are, how many direct reports they might have, what's the the individual contributor tasks we ask them to, because oftentimes they're also expected to be a producer on top of being the manager of a very large team that you might need to provide administrative support to them or an automation tools or something to make their jobs a little bit easier.
00:35:12:18 - 00:35:33:02
Unknown
And then being clear on training them and the skill sets that they need to do their job well and providing very clear expectations of what they're responsible for so that they can be successful. And of course, Emery can help with the training and the development and even the job evaluations if that's something that people are interested in. But I do think it's important.
00:35:33:02 - 00:35:55:24
Unknown
We very often look at our senior leaders and we're looking a lot at our individual contributors these days, but this group in the middle gets kind of forgotten. Well, I think that's a great place to close out on a great conversation today. So, Keri, I want to thank you for for your expertise in ensuring that sharing the trends that you've been seeing in HR currently.
00:35:56:01 - 00:36:18:10
Unknown
But to our listeners, I want to thank you also for tuning in. When Keri mentioned we have resources linked in the show notes, so make sure to check those out today or you can find them at MRA. Net dot org. We also I'm curious LinkedIn profile linked in the show notes. So if you like to connect with her or ask or any follow up questions, be sure to connect with Keri.
00:36:18:10 - 00:36:38:15
Unknown
I'm sure she'd be happy to do that. Keri Again, thank you for joining me today. And to our listeners, we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform.
00:36:38:16 - 00:36:48:09
Unknown
And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:41:11
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello, everybody, and thank you for joining us and happy New Year. And welcome back, Susan. Hey. Well, Susan, since your New Year podcast from last year is actually in our top ten podcasts of all time, we thought it would be great to really bring you back this year and share your insights for the coming year of 2024.
00:00:41:12 - 00:01:04:09
Unknown
Yeah, I saw that, that it was in the top ten, but you know, sort of thing too much credit because I was one of the first podcasts. So it's top ten for a still call me season, right? Okay. But for those of you who may not know, Susan Fronk is MRA's president and CEO. And you're really here today to help you get your new year off to a great start, really help you and your business thrive.
00:01:04:11 - 00:01:31:17
Unknown
So speaking of where to start, Susan, let's take a look at a recent national Business Trends survey from the Employers Association of America, the EAA. I know, Susan, you always talk about using data THRIVEn decisions and using those for results. So let's take a look at the results that we're seeing from the 2024 National Business Trends Survey. We know that the economy impacts everything every day, life in work.
00:01:31:19 - 00:01:58:05
Unknown
So let's talk about the numbers for this year specifically. According to the survey, 67% of organizations say the economy will improve or stay the same. And that's an 18% increase from last year's report. So we're really seeing greater confidence in this year's economy. So my first question to you is, with business leaders feeling more confident, how will that impact employers for this year?
00:01:58:11 - 00:02:28:12
Unknown
Sure. Well, first, a word about the National Business Trends survey and how relevant it is for our members. The EAA, the Employer Associations of America. Organizations like us across the country. So employers of all sizes in all industries and tens of thousands of employers. So this survey is really reflective of kind of coast to coast thinking in how they're planning for the next year.
00:02:28:14 - 00:03:14:14
Unknown
And you're right, there is a greater confidence that business will at least stay the same or improve in the year ahead. And that's great because where confidence goes, usually production follows, sales follow and hiring follows. So I know we're going to get into that, but that's kind of a mixed blessing. So hiring is still really tough. When you look at the comfort index in production and sales and where companies are going, that means there will be investments, investments made in their companies, in mergers and acquisitions, plant expansions, maybe more experimentation and innovation as well as additional hiring.
00:03:14:16 - 00:03:45:17
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. And according to the business Trends survey, 52% of employers here in the Midwest are looking to hire permanent staff. So when it comes to hiring and recruiting for 2024, what suggestions do you have for employers out there? Really? Sure. Generally, when I'm talking with members, whether those are our constituents or the C-suite, they are still having great difficulty finding qualified experience hires.
00:03:45:19 - 00:04:23:03
Unknown
So if you think of hiring as filling positions and not just hiring somebody from outside the organization and bringing them in, it may make a little more sense. And that's some of the creative D that I see. Employers are not necessarily looking for that needle in a haystack. Well, they certainly are, but they're also saying, who in my organization may have the ambition and the skills and characteristics to move up and what kind of development most training and professional experiences would I need to give them to grow them into that position?
00:04:23:05 - 00:04:53:00
Unknown
If you can't buy it, meaning hire, you've got to make it and that'll develop. Yeah, absolutely. And we'll talk a little bit more later, especially on emerging leaders and from a CEO perspective, what qualities and characteristics do you specifically look for in those emerging leaders? We'll talk more later. But Susan Talent acquisition TA has been a serious challenge for employer employers in the past year and this year looking ahead.
00:04:53:01 - 00:05:26:10
Unknown
So let's talk about what executives identified as some other top challenges of this year. Talent acquisition was top at 50 to 2%, but also making the top five list was cybersecurity at 44%. Talent retention also at 44%, inflation coming in at 41%. And then developing future leaders, as you've mentioned, at 34%. Looking at that, cyber security is new on this list for this year and really an issue top of mind for executives And, you know, all employers.
00:05:26:12 - 00:05:52:00
Unknown
What are you hearing from other organizations in business leaders overall on how what they are doing to increase cybersecurity? Sure. And it's coming up in many business conversations. Before we move to that with your commission, Sophie, could I circle back to the talent, get perhaps a lesson? Because the survey did highlight some things that I think are worth underscoring in this conversation.
00:05:52:01 - 00:06:28:21
Unknown
One is that compensation, as a starting wage went up. No surprise there, but also that the ranges of the jobs themselves have been adjusted upward in the majority of organizations. And again, no surprise with inflation being kind of break away in 2022 and maybe moderating a bit in 2023, just that those are table stakes. Right. We all know that compensation alone isn't a satisfying necessarily, but it's a dissatisfying.
00:06:28:23 - 00:06:47:04
Unknown
So what I mean by that is if you don't get it right, people will leave. But even if you have it right, meaning that you pay competitively and you know what the market pay is and your benefits are appropriate, the right amount of paid time off, just the fact that you get that right, those are table stakes. That doesn't mean people won't leave.
00:06:47:06 - 00:07:09:20
Unknown
You have to have culture and environment and professional growth and development opportunities as well. The innovation is just the doubling down on the fact that it is a total package and human resources is right at the center of that and leadership conversation to say, here's here's how we have to touch all those bases. So pay alone will get you there.
00:07:09:22 - 00:07:34:02
Unknown
But you do have to know how your jobs stack up to off. And I think business leaders may say this job title and what does this job title pay? That almost doesn't matter because titles are just that. You have to really look at the responsibilities and the role itself and the job duties to make sure that you're comparing apples to.
00:07:34:04 - 00:08:02:14
Unknown
Absolutely. Thank you for circling back. Sure. Yeah. I think that was an important point, and I neglected to say that originally. Absolutely. If you asked me about cybersecurity. Yes. Well, I think it is a big question. It's like describing the you and I am no cybersecurity expert, but I do have the catbird seat, I guess I would say, and I always feel honored to have those conversations with so many business leaders.
00:08:02:16 - 00:08:26:23
Unknown
But our members do share confidential information with us, and cybersecurity is keeping people up at night. It can ruin a business in the blink of an eye. Before I get to a couple of recommendations that I would make as a layperson, not as a cybersecurity expert, but as a business leader, that that does have this advantage of talking with a lot of other smart business leaders.
00:08:27:00 - 00:09:03:23
Unknown
Anecdotally, I happen to be in Las Vegas last fall for my husband's birthday, and it was during the MGM data breach and Hurd worldwide, everybody was talking about it because they decided not to play ball with the threat actors. And there are a thousand decisions that businesses need to make about cybersecurity. But one of them is am I going to capitulate, potentially pay ransom, try to secure my data and hope and pray that that the bad right.
00:09:03:23 - 00:09:28:09
Unknown
You're going to honor their word, which is interesting all by itself mean you trust in criminals to do what they say. That makes no sense. But then the other branch is to say, forget it. I'm going to take what comes right. And what was so unique about the MGM? Brett breach is that just prior to that, the whole Caesars Entertainment family worldwide was in it.
00:09:28:11 - 00:10:04:17
Unknown
They paid a seven figure ransom. Whether that was there's two huge hospitality, gaming, entertainment, playing in the same space, trying to attract the same customers in the same industry. And they went in it very different ways. So I guess an umbrella is you have to know your own company, your own culture, your appetite for risk, and that the subject matter experts you've got on hand and higher tech to move you through any threat, hopefully to prevent a threat.
00:10:04:19 - 00:10:34:04
Unknown
And then what's the fallout? Can your company with stand whatever it is from your employees, from your customers, from your vendors who say, maybe I don't trust you as much anymore, So now two organizations, very similar, could have been brought to their knees, and I witnessed it staying at an MGM property. My husband and I saw it was basically shut down.
00:10:34:05 - 00:11:18:14
Unknown
They must have lost millions and millions every day. So just having that kind of ringside seat and talking to who I could. Dealers and Uber THRIVErs. Yeah, customer service people, they highlighted the fact that it was really only one employee who unintentionally who did a very bad and reckless thing against the training that he'd had, which brought the company to its knees, and that because they were networked so thoroughly at all of their properties worldwide for economy and efficiencies, a scalability, knowledge and interest locking this out.
00:11:18:16 - 00:11:55:17
Unknown
It also was once somebody got in their room, they got in every. So how does that relate to our members here in the Midwest, wherever you happen to be? It's that employee training is an absolute again, just ticket to the show. If you're going to be in business today, you have to realize the threat really is everywhere and your employees, advertently or inadvertently are likely going to be the access point.
00:11:55:19 - 00:12:25:15
Unknown
So train your employees and keep training and keep training and can don't take no for an answer. You just have to have that level of knowledge of what the risk is out there and and how they could jeopardize your organization. It's one thing. The second thing is I would really advocate for an independent outside audit of all of your systems.
00:12:25:17 - 00:12:56:07
Unknown
Yes, it takes time and yes, it costs money, but they will highlight areas of opportunity, areas of risk. Can I give you a report card and a game plan to say if this is your report card, where you're strong and where you're weak, here are some gaps. Here are some systems or practices that make you vulnerable. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
00:12:56:09 - 00:13:26:09
Unknown
And then you can address those gaps that an outside third party, nothing in the game has identified to help make your company stronger. And it isn't a one and done sort of thing. I undertook one in 2020 and again in 2022. We plan to do it again next year. So that's just like maintenance review. You do what you can and that doesn't that, that doesn't ensure you're not going to have a problem, right?
00:13:26:11 - 00:13:58:24
Unknown
It just maybe reduces the likelihood. So those two things extensive of ongoing kind of black and white employee training must do it. And second and a regular practice of outside objective audits of your systems so that you can become stronger and less vulnerable. Absolutely. Those are great takeaways, Suzanne. And I appreciate the examples, too, that came with it was very interesting to watch in real time.
00:13:59:01 - 00:14:26:18
Unknown
Cybersecurity has been one of our was highly requested topics coming from our 30 minute Thrive listeners. So I'm glad we can address that today. Well, I'm not a cybersecurity expert. I would suggest we get some for future podcasts. We will really dig into it. Absolutely. Another topic that's been very highly requested is I we have a couple episodes out there if you'd like to go in depth about A.I..
00:14:26:18 - 00:15:15:01
Unknown
But Suzanne, I guess I'm curious from your perspective how you feel about a A.I. in HR overall, MRA's first steps to kind of incorporate air in our company. I'm sure just kind of briefly touch on that. I will. I wouldn't say that we're ahead of the game. I would say we're writing this tsunami with most of the organizations out there and learning as best as we can so we understand not only do we need to get it right and become more knowledgeable about our own services and how we're going to offer, connect with produce what we do, and that our members are 4000 strong, are turning to us to say, What should I be concerned
00:15:15:01 - 00:15:42:07
Unknown
about? And specifically, I guess as it pertains to human resources. So my thought is there is no there is no value in saying a AI is bad, more A.I. is dangerous. It can be in the wrong hands. And without a plan. But I just is it is coming on strong. So it's not it's not an argument to be debated.
00:15:42:09 - 00:16:06:23
Unknown
It's a fact to be managed and wrestled with and resolved. And as best as each company can. So what do I think the impact on each I would be, I think is going to be huge. I'm making this big universal statement without a lot of detail under it. But we're learning, as I said, as fast as we can.
00:16:07:00 - 00:16:53:08
Unknown
This practice might work for our members too. We have developed last year we developed an AI task force so people internal, aided by some external experts that would just make us smarter, that would take a look at it and study it regularly and carved out a bit in their time and their goals to be help us elevate our skills with regard to artificial intelligence, not necessarily deciding what our projects would be because it's a small group of people, but elevating the knowledge of our leader team, our employees in general, our senior leaders, and to say, here's what we're learning and to keep that in front of us so that we can make good decisions about
00:16:53:10 - 00:17:27:20
Unknown
both internal and external offerings, program services and expertise we may do, I will say, one thing. I strongly recommend that every company who is trying to get their arms around AI and who isn't, that they start with something that sounds like you're putting on the brakes before you even get in the car, which is data governance policy, because every company has employees, whether you know it or not, who are already working with A.I., It could be in a side hustle.
00:17:27:20 - 00:18:04:15
Unknown
It could be that they're using it for what they do for your organization and you just don't know it. Or it could be that innocently. They're just one of those early adopters that are saying, Well, I'm just going to experiment through having listened to some outside experts and some people in the legal realm who talk about copyright and many other legal issues, I guess I would just say help your employees be the best they can be by having a data policy and guidelines that give them the parameters.
00:18:04:17 - 00:18:26:17
Unknown
So you want to make sure you know what's going on in your organization so you can make sure you don't get in trouble. But also you want to make sure that it's a conversation daily, weekly, ongoing, so that you can harness whoever is an early adopter and excited about it and use that to help further whatever you're trying to do.
00:18:26:17 - 00:18:57:23
Unknown
So it's really going to impact and this is just fundamental, you know, the basic knowledge of of things I've seen, it's really going to impact the employment world, how you hire and attract source, bring on board employees. Absolutely. So HR needs to get its arms around that second thought. When you think about marketing production and content production communications, it's really going to impact that as well.
00:18:58:00 - 00:19:25:10
Unknown
I would never put something out there written by a guy who. What is that and who is that? You know, the the very old adage garbage in, garbage out applies might be more garbage, might be digital garbage, but it could still be art. So that I almost think artificial intelligence, I'm never going to change the title. That is what it is universally, but it's almost like it should be called augmented in time.
00:19:25:10 - 00:19:51:11
Unknown
Just plainly put a computer brain is helping humans do their job better. So you augment how you do your job with artificial intelligence. So artificial always kind of gives me the creeps, but neither it's real or it's not right and it's real. So I would I would say you want to use augmented and I like the do your job from the heard it here first.
00:19:51:15 - 00:20:19:15
Unknown
All right. We're changing artificial intelligence. Right. It's just you know, it's not even 9 a.m.. We're getting things done. Get things that I would just add to that, too, from the conversations that I've had with some subject matter experts specifically on AI and how it will affect the workforce. And each are specifically I feel like they're seeing that A.I. is going to help with operational and more routine tasks.
00:20:19:17 - 00:20:49:23
Unknown
And that's going to leave HR Professionals and professionals in general more room to focus on the strategic planning tasks that maybe they don't have enough time on right now. That's well said. And i think HR People should be excited about that. But first, it's scary. Before you get excited about said you first have to get your arms around it and know how i'm going to harness it and you don't left behind and and and and though I do think it could help HR
00:20:49:23 - 00:21:14:03
Unknown
People focus on the more strategic conceptual things and getting more routine tasks out of the way. It won't stop there, though. I think that's a bridge to to something even bigger. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for those recommendations. In fact, we have a hot topic survey coming out very soon on ai in the workplace, so stay tuned for that.
00:21:14:03 - 00:21:45:16
Unknown
And if you want to learn more about how I will affect your workplace in HR specifically, that hot topic survey is going to be coming out next week, actually, so the week of January 7th. And we will also have a podcast covering those results of survey results. But so, Susan, let's talk more about some other business trends, survey results here to our attention was among the top business challenges for 2023 and heading into 2024.
00:21:45:18 - 00:22:13:08
Unknown
So what are organizations doing now to really retain top talent once hired? There's very little like earth shaking and VR and tremendously different. But I can say again with the confidence of thousands of employers weighing in, that some fundamentals that again put it, are right in the middle of that business conversation session. You need to be an employer of choice.
00:22:13:08 - 00:22:56:14
Unknown
You need to be an employer that competes not just on being in the top of the range you need to pay competitively, as we've determined. But there are so many other things. And one of those other things that is trending more strongly isn't new, but trending much more along strongly is learning in growth. How how are you going to take a new employee, an existing employee, a long service employee, and continue to give them opportunities to learn and to grow in your organization, that that deserves more time and attention on a regular basis?
00:22:56:16 - 00:23:35:20
Unknown
Then then most of us either devote to because you're there's a crush of other things to do, or maybe we don't realize just how important it has become and the talent shortage and the fact that employers are looking to hire more in a stronger economy and those people just don't always exist. And so for self-preservation as well as for growth, you really need to keenly focus on career paths and opportunities to develop your current team.
00:23:35:22 - 00:24:05:00
Unknown
That doesn't mean you all have to create a university. That doesn't mean you need to have a ladder, a and a ladder being a ladder. I guess it would be the other way around. Let's see. Matter be ladder. But in some organizations that makes sense. Maybe more of a manufacturing organization, but it does mean the quality of supervision and management, the quality of those conversations are really important so that that employee knows.
00:24:05:02 - 00:24:37:04
Unknown
All right. The job to which I aspire or the pay that I'd like to earn someday is achievable with these steps. My employer is going to do these three things and I'm going to do these five things and we're going to arrive at this happy destination together. So spending more time and thoughtful consideration of each employee's career path, no matter the job, is really trending strongly.
00:24:37:06 - 00:25:07:11
Unknown
And that's not going to change as the talent market stays really challenging, challenging in that there just aren't enough experienced, qualified candidates out there. And even at the very entry level or new to the job market range, I'm not letting those great employees get away and happy somewhere else. Absolutely. And I have a follow up question for that.
00:25:07:11 - 00:25:50:19
Unknown
Then, in addition to, like you said, table stakes, the competitive wages we've seen variable pay has also come into play to overcome these recruiting and retention challenges. Are you seeing any incentives used by our members or other organizations, employers with variable pay to kind of overcome the retention challenge? Sure. I'll give you what we've learned from our survey and then I'll give you a little Susan Twist, because, well, my opinion doesn't always carry the day, but we want to hear it.
00:25:50:19 - 00:26:24:00
Unknown
Well, it is what it is. What I think would work if you had an organization that you started from scratch with people that you were able to select carefully and grow the way you wanted to. You would treat everybody in a very custom way. Your best employees would get 10% raises and you, your average steady, at ease would get far less than that, and you wouldn't have poor quality employees.
00:26:24:00 - 00:26:55:17
Unknown
And in real world that doesn't exist. But I do see to sell them that employers use whatever matrix they have for pay and benefits, they use it to too much the same year. At the end of the day, what is the difference to you or to me or to anyone? You know the difference between a 2.7 raise and a 3% raise.
00:26:55:17 - 00:27:26:07
Unknown
It just isn't meaningful. So if you really want to keep that better employee, what is meaningful for great performance. So again, that's the real trend with my twist using HR Being very nimble and able to layer on its policies and practices not as consistently maybe as a lifetime has taught us. You need to treat everybody the same. Not necessarily.
00:27:26:10 - 00:27:58:01
Unknown
You need to have business justified reasons for doing that. You need to make sure it's tied to documented perform means but achievement of goals. Those employees who truly are head and shoulders above, they're going to go elsewhere in this market unless you do treat them differently. Ways that you can do that. Variable variable pay tied to performance, not universal bonuses, but those that say if the company achieves this, then we all get that.
00:27:58:03 - 00:28:25:15
Unknown
That means gain sharing, Whatever you call it, it's gain sharing. Second would be if you in this role achieve this, you're going to get this. Those things benefit the organization and they will lift all boats instead of variable pay that isn't as tightly tied for goal achievement. And again, that brings the spotlight right down on the quality of management in supervision.
00:28:25:17 - 00:28:50:15
Unknown
Are your managers and supervisors savvy, trained and strong enough to say, Sophie, here's where you hit your goals. Here's where you missed your goal. Here's what that earned in our variable pay plan and here's what you going to do next year. That should be a dialog. Usually saying that's achievable might be a stretch goal, but I can do it.
00:28:50:17 - 00:29:25:05
Unknown
Not pie in the sky. What are you talking about? I could never do that. So it should feel like a partnership, but it should also feel like a stretch and your manager has to be able anyone's manager has to be able to say, Great job or here's the gap. And that's saying a lot. If you're not going to use things very consistently which can water down performance if you treat everybody the same, the great performers say, What the heck?
00:29:25:07 - 00:30:01:11
Unknown
Why should I tie on my son Jr's every day and run at 100 miles an hour when he is and she is and they are running at 50 miles an hour? No, you know, why would I do that? It tends to it tends to breed mediocrity instead of excellence. So the key to that is high quality management and supervision and the ability to have conversations in a partnership way so that people understand, here's how I can excel, here's how I can earn that variable pay, and here's, you know, what caring what I do to improve.
00:30:01:13 - 00:30:30:14
Unknown
If that was Susan's twist, that makes sense. Yeah, but it doesn't exist. It doesn't reflect. Well, Susan kind of rounding out the top five challenges from this year's survey is developing future leaders. So I know we touched on this briefly, but what recommendations do you have for developing an organization's up and coming leaders or emerging leaders? I would say, well, one of them, I think, is what I just touched on with regard to variable pay.
00:30:30:16 - 00:31:00:06
Unknown
People work for intrinsic feeling of accomplishment. That's true. I think if you hire good employees, they want they come in saying, I want to do a good job because that's just how I'm wound. That's my theory. But let's not make the mistake that an achievement is an important and compensation isn't important. And recognition and rewards are an important and I'm probably wound a little differently that way.
00:31:00:11 - 00:31:29:17
Unknown
I'm not saying intergenerational, but it tends to be in that newer workers in the workplace just need more care and development and to feel a part of the team. And I think sometimes longer service workers missed that. By missed that, I mean don't recognize that enough. Don't think about it often enough. Not out of bad intention, but because that's not what they experienced.
00:31:29:22 - 00:31:53:11
Unknown
So so you don't want to allow that disconnect to become pervasive in your company. You want to make sure it's fluid and organic is a word I like to use there, meaning it's growing and changing all the time and it's an in an into flow of information going back and forth, people communicating about what they need and what they want and what they have and they like and what they don't like.
00:31:53:12 - 00:32:24:23
Unknown
I mean, then you can respond to it back to the career passing. Just make sure that's part of your performance system. Whatever your performance system is, it isn't just about goals, it's about what's next and where you want to go and what you want to achieve and and help with how you get there. So if any employee is willing to say, I want to grow my job and I'm willing to put in these things, room managers should want to work with them all day long.
00:32:25:00 - 00:32:50:21
Unknown
It's great advice. Well, common sense, right? Well, Susan, unfortunately, we're running out of time here. But I know we asked this question a lot to our members, but now I'm curious to know what keeps you up at night, Susan, looking forward into the future, 2024 for business? Well, thanks, Sophia. You you actually gave me some nightmares during this conversation because most things.
00:32:50:21 - 00:33:16:19
Unknown
Yeah, this is what I'm you. You you touched on two of them because they're so external to an organization. I think many leaders and I like to feel that I really know how to run this business and that I communicate with this team really well that you that you know where we are financially. You know what our goals are.
00:33:16:22 - 00:33:47:01
Unknown
Our strategic placement is tucked up in your cubicle, whatever, you know, where we're going. But cybersecurity and artificial intelligence that are tiger by the tail, both of those things, you can do everything right and not see the train coming on the track. So again, business people are paid to square their shoulders and say, how do I how do I capitalize on those opportunities?
00:33:47:01 - 00:34:13:01
Unknown
Not how do I run afraid from them? What your question was, what keeps me up at night? I would say it's those two things, among others, because they are so external to minimization. They are so foreign and fast moving and in the hands of other people and things and technology that today a few of us are expert in.
00:34:13:03 - 00:34:39:12
Unknown
So so that's what keeps me up at night. And that's why through our conversation I highlighted just the fundamentals of policy governance practice. Outside audits, you do what you can and then hopefully you can just put your head down on the pillow and sleep because you've done what you can. That doesn't mean it will protect or be perfect or optimize artificial intelligence the impact on your business.
00:34:39:14 - 00:35:08:09
Unknown
But you can't be an ostrich either and stick your head in the sand and just say, I hope it doesn't impact me for two years or five years. It will come in my CEO roundtable. We talked about cybersecurity and there were 14 really smart business leaders, owners in the room, and four of them had had data incidents, let's call it threat actors attack their business.
00:35:08:09 - 00:35:35:18
Unknown
So four out of 14 just in the last year, it's not if, but when. So make yourself as bulletproof as possible. Absolutely. And we have resources linked in the charts below. You can also find them at MRA Talk. But Susan, we wrap up here. Any last thoughts, any words of inspiration for the new year, your mike drop moment here?
00:35:35:20 - 00:35:55:00
Unknown
I'll tell you what I told my employees and my partner over the holidays. Bring it on, We’re Ready! I love it. I need to. I'm excited. Perfect. Well, thank you, Susan. I really appreciate you coming on. And I appreciate your leadership here, too. Like I mentioned, we have resources in the show notes below, so make sure to refer back to those.
00:35:55:02 - 00:36:15:24
Unknown
They are also found on our website, mranet.org. And thank you so much for listening and tuning in today. We hope you have a great New Year in a successful New Year and we are always here to help. So thank you again, Susan. Happy New Year. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect.
00:36:15:24 - 00:36:31:04
Unknown
For more podcast updates, check out other Amari episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.
